


Unwanted Lodger

by Laurawrzz



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Doctor Whump, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Mpreg, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-06-30
Updated: 2009-06-30
Packaged: 2017-10-28 07:11:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/305188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laurawrzz/pseuds/Laurawrzz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor and Donna visit Torchwood, but the Doctor is soon left with the mother of all problems. With mysterious disappearances of the public afoot can the Torchwood and TARDIS teams solve the case despite huge problems of their own? Major DoctorWhump.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unwanted

**Author's Note:**

> This is a different approach to whump and I'll warn you now, this is MPreg. However! It's not a normal MPreg. There's no slash beyond established relationships as shown in the show, and I have discussed the plot with a couple of MPreg haters and they both approve so, please, give it a chance! I think/hope you'll like it.
> 
> I'm messing with canon a bit, the Torchwood crew are at a point just after Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (series 2 episode 1) whilst the Doctor and Donna are in an A/U at mid-series 4.

"Jack!" came the Doctor's chirpy voice from the Hub entrance, accompanied by the sound of the heavy Hub door rolling open giving entrance into the underground world of Torchwood Three. "Don't mind us, we were in the area, thought we'd just pop in to say… hi…"

He trailed off as his eyes swivelled around to where the Torchwood team were gathered, cowered in a corner behind Jack, who had his arms in the air in front of three life forms standing before them.

One of the creatures turned around slowly, and the Doctor almost reeled with shock. Two bulbous black eyes stared at him aloof, a small black hole visible as a mere pinprick in the place its mouth should have been. Its nose was big enough to mistake for a Hoover, whilst its head looked more like a pear with grey skin. It probably would've looked comical, if it didn't have – what looked like – blood dripping eerily from its small pinhole mouth.

"Oh sorry," the Doctor said after he'd managed to recover, beaming away happily. "I didn't know you had people 'round for dinner, Jack."

Jack decided introductions were needed. "Doctor, meet the freaky alien guys. Freaky alien guys, meet the Doctor."

The Doctor gave an insanely cheery wave. "Hello!" he greeted, before turning back towards the Hub door, beckoning someone beyond the metal. "Hurry up, Donna!"

"Cobbles!" A red haired middle-aged woman appeared in the doorway, looking nothing short of annoyed at the Time Lord standing in front of her. "Heels! Cobbles! And you're tellin' me to hurry up?"

The Doctor visibly winced. "Okay, okay sorry." He turned back around, expecting to see the aliens over the other side of the Hub still, but instead found one mere inches away from his face. He jumped in shock, stumbling backwards a few paces and almost into Donna.

"Oi, watch it!" Donna exclaimed, but then she saw what he was looking at. Her jaw dropped. "Blimey," she said, "now that's _ugly."_ The Doctor stared at her. Donna seemed puzzled. "What?" Then she realised. "Oh yeah! Translator circuits! He can understand me!"

The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Scan them!" a low-pitched voice hissed from across the room, one of the ones next to Jack. The one in front of the Doctor obligingly raised something slim and silver and waved it over Donna, then the Doctor. It stared at the results on the device for a moment, before raising a hand to point at the Time Lord.

"This one be perfect," it said in a poor representation of English.

The Doctor grimaced. "Uh oh," he muttered as the apparent 'leader' of the creatures took a step forward, regarding the Doctor with interest.

"Yes, he be good," it said, and in one swift movement it drew something sleek and black and pointed it at the Doctor, and then fired off a shot.

"You shot him!" Donna gasped as the Doctor suddenly jolted, hands snapping to his abdomen before he collapsed to the floor with his face contorted in pain, curling in on himself and convulsing in agony.

"Us return soon," the life-form leader said as though it were a typical day at the office, and in the blink of an eye, the life-forms had transmatted out. Donna fell to her knees next to the Doctor and cradled him in both arms as Jack instantly dropped his arms and bolted over to the collapsed Doctor, trying to lift the Doctor's hands from his abdomen to check for a wound but the Time Lord forcefully pushed him away.

"Doctor?" Donna was yelling, frantic. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah Donna I'm absolutely fine! I've just been shot in the stomach, that's all!" the Doctor yelled back, still convulsing violently.

Donna's expression of concern quickly turned to one of irritation. "You might be dyin' Time Boy, but I'll still slap ya!"

"Doctor!" Jack interrupted, still trying to pull the Doctor's hands off of his wound. He couldn't see any blood. "Let go!"

The Doctor was visibly getting weaker and weaker as his strength began to wane, but he still kept his hands firmly to his stomach. "No…" he moaned, "please… don't touch… hurts…"

Jack slipped his arms beneath him and went to lift – but the Doctor's cry of agony at the movement made him hesitate and freeze. The Time Lord was sweating profusely, trembling and gasping for air.

"Doc, I'm tryin' to help! Lift your hands!"

The Doctor's only form of reply was to pass out. Jack took the opportunity to move the unconscious man's arms off of his stomach and pull up his shirt. A frown appeared on his face.

"There's no wound," he announced as Owen moved over, checking the Doctor over for himself.

"Could be internal. Get him to the medical room."

* * *

As he began to surface, the Doctor could hear echoes of voices from close by locked in the depths of conversation, but the words were indecipherable. He tried to move but sudden pain shot through his abdomen and he cried out, trying to curl in on himself in an involuntary reflex but someone grabbed him by the shoulders and held him in place firmly, cradling his head. Jack.

"It's okay Doc, shush, we're gonna find out what's wrong and fix it, all right?"

The Doctor groaned in pain before nodding, spasming slightly as someone gently pressed down on his abdomen. He opened his eyes to his surroundings, taking in the whitewashed walls and heavy medical equipment, and the crowd gathering at the top of the stairs to watch. Jack followed his gaze and instantly waved his hands, shooing them out of the circular room.

"Do you want something for the pain?" Gwen asked, and the Doctor furiously nodded.

"I've got some aspirin," Donna offered.

The Doctor grimaced. "Gonna need a little more than aspirin," he gasped, and Jack couldn't help but smile.

"He's allergic to anything to do with aspirin," Jack said, and Donna frowned, confused.

"You're allergic to aspirin?" she asked, perplexed.

"Deathly," Jack replied. "One aspirin could kill him."

Donna breathed through her nose, lips pursed. "Can't be fun when you've got a headache."

Jack looked up at Owen, who was still examining the Doctor's stomach. "Got anything?"

Owen was frowning. "Nothing but morphine, and I can't give him that. Need a CAT scanner… Since we don't have one, gonna have to ultrasound it."

"Whatever, just stop his pain," Jack said, anxious for his friend.

"I can't find anything," Gwen announced from across the room where she was going through drawers and drawers of medical packs. Jack cursed under his breath, holding the Time Lord instinctively to him.

"Just gotta ride it out, Doc. Stay strong," Jack muttered near the Time Lord's ear and he nodded again, still groaning in agony. Owen was already spreading gel-like substance over the Doctor's stomach as Jack continued to hold him in both comfort and to still him.

Silent seconds passed, and Owen's frown seemed to get deeper and deeper as he glanced back and forth between the Doctor and the screen displaying the ultrasound. A minute had passed before he finally spoke. "Does the male of your species carry the offspring?"

The Doctor shook his head, teeth gritted.

"That'll be why you're in pain then," Owen said, staring intently at the screen. "They've implanted their spawn inside you to grow, shovin' any internal systems out of the way, causin' some pretty severe internal damage…"

"What you talkin' 'bout?" Donna enquired, confused as she looked around at the gathered people, whose faces had seemed to drop. "Spawn?"

"Donna," Jack began, slowly and unsurely. "The Doctor is pregnant."


	2. Unsought

The Doctor had groaned and gasped his way through the night, Jack remaining obediently by his side. At 3am when the rest of the Torchwood group had gone home and Donna was sound asleep, Jack found a form of painkiller the Doctor could have in the TARDIS' medicine cabinets and the Time Lord finally calmed down into a peaceful sleep. Well, as peaceful as could be, seeing as he was sleeping on an autopsy table. But it couldn't be helped. Jack didn't really want to move him to one of the recovery rooms without Owen's approval, and definitely not whilst the Doctor was sleeping relatively calmly.

Loathingly Jack thought of the aliens that had done this to his friend. He'd never encountered them before, and by the look of the Doctor when he'd first arrived, he hadn't either. Jack didn't know the threat they posed, if any, or whether they actually expected their spawn to survive. Questions plagued his mind. Why were these aliens implanting their spawn into other species to grow? Just how big would the spawn get? When would they come back? By the time they came back, would it already be too late for the Doctor?

Jack sighed, getting onto his feet and looking over the Doctor one last time before heading to his office to do some work.

* * *

Five hours later, Jack's office door opened and Tosh appeared, looking a little anxious.

"There's been another disappearance," she said. Jack nodded, putting down his pen and getting to his feet to follow her out into the Hub.

"When?"

"Yesterday afternoon," she said as she led him to her computer terminal, slipping on her glasses and bringing up a profile. "Megan Jones. Seven years old. Mother was picking her up from school, she turned away for one second to open the car door and Megan had gone."

"How many does that make now?" Jack asked, examining the picture of the little brown-haired girl, beaming away in a school photograph, all but one tooth missing. His heart sank. "Six?"

"That we're aware of," Tosh added. "It's still localised to Cardiff."

"Circumstances?"

"Same," she confirmed. "Burnt pavement beneath the area where the victim seemingly disappeared. Happened in seconds. No witnesses."

"There never is," Jack sighed.

"I could go for an analysis of the burnt pavement…" she suggested, but then shrugged. "But I don't think we'll find anything new."

"No," Jack agreed. "Okay, get in contact with the school. We need everythin' they know. Where she went, what she ate, anyone she talked to, etcetera." He caught Tosh's look. "I know it's a hopeless case, Tosh, but babies and children have gone missin'. We can't just give up. Any leads, _anythin'_ at all, tell me."

She nodded, turning back to the screen and hammering buttons as she began her search. Jack turned to go back to his office but almost walked into Owen.

"Jack, can we talk?"

"Sure," Jack replied, following Owen to his desk. The Londoner took an envelope from the desk surface and held up it, pulling out some scans to show Jack.

"Purely from a doctor of human physiology's point of view, this man is gonna die a very slow and painful death." Owen waited for Jack to reply, but he didn't, so he continued. "It's welded itself to his digestive system for the nutrients it needs and it's getting bigger every second. The internal damage might be okay to handle now, but as that thing grows it's gonna get worse and worse, compressing everything in there and sucking more and more nutrients out. It's, quite literally, sucking the life out of him."

Jack closed his eyes, battling with his emotions. "Can we do anythin'?"

Owen hesitated. "I can operate and remove it. But it'll die, and he'll spend a while being fed by a tube."

Jack shook his head. "These lifeforms that implanted him with it – they're not gonna be very happy to see it dead. Morbidly unhappy. _So_ unhappy in fact, that they might start killin' us."

Owen gave him a long, hard look. "Us or him. Your choice."

Jack closed his eyes again, musing on it for only a moment before he opened his eyes once more and skilfully changed the subject. "Okay, can we move him?"

"Where to?"

"Somewhere a bit more comfortable."

Owen nodded, packing away his scans back into the envelope as Jack moved back across the Hub to the Medical Room. He turned the corner, looking down into the room… Then his eyes widened.

The Doctor had gone.

"Doctor?" he said, worry instantly gripping him for seemingly no apparent reason. He heard Owen come up behind him, and sigh heavily.

"Why do I get the feeling he's gonna be a _seriously_ difficult patient?"

Jack didn't reply. He pushed back past Owen into the main Hub, looking around frantically for the slim figure in his brown suit. Thankfully he saw the familiar tuft of messy brown hair apparent through a window to Jack's office and without hesitation, Jack burst into a purposeful stride up the stairs, three at a time, entering his room within moments. The Doctor was leant back in Jack's chair with his feet propped up on the desk, completely relaxed. He looked up on Jack's entry.

"Right," he said, pushing himself onto his feet. Jack almost dived forward to catch him when he suddenly swayed on his feet, but the Doctor caught himself on the table before blinking and shaking his head to clear it. He straightened up again and smiled at Jack as though nothing had just happened. "I'm off then, good to see you and all."

Jack openly laughed.

The Doctor looked genuinely confused. "What?" he asked.

"You're not serious, are you?" Jack said. "You're not going anywhere."

The Doctor stared at him. "What d'you mean?"

Jack's face fell. "Oh," he said. "You _are_ serious."

The Doctor seemed very surprised at what Jack was saying. "What?"

"You ain't leavin'," Jack stated bluntly.

"What?"

"There's no way in hell you're leavin', Doc, for both your own and others' protection."

The Doctor's face was suddenly white with both the shock of what was happening and spontaneous anger at the man in front of him. "You can't _keep_ me here!" he yelled, teeth gritted.

"I think I can!"

"What am I? Your prisoner?"

"If that's what it takes, then yeah!"

"You got a couple of hours of torture lined up for me later?"

Jack's face instantly dropped to one of shock, anger and despair, his voice suddenly low and slow. "Don't you _ever_ say that again. I would _never_ hurt you."

The Doctor suddenly faltered, his eyes dropping to look at the floor of Jack's office. "I'm sorry."

Silent seconds passed as both men calmed down, Jack moving purposefully towards the Doctor. He placed his hands on the Time Lord's shoulders, staring deeply into his eyes. "Doctor. You're sick. You've been implanted with spawn that's foreign to your body, which has destroyed half your digestive system and is now makin' you anxious and irritable. The things that implanted you with it are gonna come back to retrieve it, we don't know when. If they find us here with you gone, they'll probably kill us and you'll die off world somewhere leavin' Donna helpless and alone. I'm not gonna let that happen. I'm gonna keep you safe, and if it means I have to stick you in a cell next to a weevil with a coupla deadlock seals, then I will."

A few seconds passed before the Doctor finally nodded, staring at the floor. More silent seconds trickled away into the dust before Jack straightened.

"So," he said with a wry smile. "Ever been pregnant before?"

"Not that I recall," the Doctor replied airily.

"Ah!" Jack said with a grin. "All the fun is still to come for you! Startin' with the joy of…" he trailed off as the Doctor suddenly turned very green, throwing his hand over his mouth and diving for the bin next to Jack's desk. Sounds ensued.

"…Mornin' sickness," Jack finished off, grimacing. "Yeah, that."

The office door suddenly opened, revealing Donna Noble standing the doorway. Her eyes instantly focused on Jack, a small smile spreading on her face. She quickly primped up, wishing to death that she'd put a little more concealer on.

"Hello, Jack!" she said.

Jack grinned back with a bright set of pearly white teeth. Both were unconsciously expecting the Doctor's usual interruption, but the only verbal interruption he gave was another hurl into the bin. The two humans winced.

When the Doctor finally finished he pulled back, collapsing with exhaustion against the side of the desk.

Donna dared to peek towards the bin, but instantly wrinkled her nose in absolute disgust as she turned to Jack. "I think you're gonna need a new bin."


	3. Burdensome

Chapter 3 – Burdensome

The Doctor woke up the next morning feeling like he'd been hit with a very large and very heavy hammer.

He opened his eyes, at first unfamiliar to his surroundings, but then he vaguely remembered being guided half asleep to one of Torchwood's lesser known recovery rooms, recently installed in the base. He felt weak and sick yet somehow hungry all at the same time, his abdomen throbbing as well as his head.

His first instinct was to look down to his stomach, finding himself in his undershirt and boxers – he couldn't remember doing that. Jack or Donna must have. Strangely, he couldn't decide which possibility was worse… But that wasn't the important thing right now. His belly was beginning to stretch his t-shirt with the bulge, and as he peeled back his shirt he could see it was now looking quite bruised in some areas. The more he looked at it, the more it hurt.

"Jack?" he called, wishing and hoping that somehow the ex-Time Agent could hear him so he didn't have to move. He waited. No reply. "Jack?" Waited. No reply.

Sighing, the Doctor made to get up, but a sudden pain even worse than before shot through his abdomen and he gasped, hand flying up to rest on it. There was no way he could trek across the whole of the Torchwood base in search of Jack with this…

"Jack!" he called again, a little more desperately this time. No reply. What _was_ the man _doing?_ Testing his new earplugs?The Doctor took a deep, fortifying breath, preparing himself for the pain that was about to come before he threw back the covers and got onto both feet, instantly crying out and dropping onto one knee with a hand on his bruised abdomen.

He forced his head up – the door was mere metres away. He took another deep breath, grasping onto the bed rails to push himself onto both feet, before shortly collapsing forward onto the door handle. He pulled it down and fell out onto the balcony overlooking the Torchwood base.

"Jack!" he called again. "Please!"

"Doctor?" finally came Jack's surprised response, and the Doctor sighed in relief. "Hold on!"

The Doctor pulled himself to sit up against the balcony railing, one hand on his belly with his head lolled, eyes lightly closed as he tried to regain his strength. It wasn't long until he heard the multitudes of footsteps coming towards him and he opened his eyes to find most Donna and most of the Torchwood team looking down at him.

"Hurts," the Doctor gasped.

"So I see," Jack said, reaching out to the Doctor's abdomen. The Doctor suddenly felt a compulsion to hit the hand away to protect the embryo, but he fought the reflex and allowed Jack to lift his shirt to reveal the damage beneath. "What you make of that, Owen?"

"It's getting bigger," Owen muttered, also touching his stomach, feeling around for the spawn within. The Doctor wanted so badly to hit the hands away; protect the embryo… "I need to do another scan."

* * *

The scan had only confirmed the worst scenario possible. Yesterday the spawn had been the size of a fingernail – today it was a whole thumb.

The Doctor had been groaning and moaning in pain until Jack gave him some meds, and within minutes the Time Lord was back on his feet, jogging around the Torchwood base and sticking his nose into everyone else's business. Owen had tried to protest – after all, the Doctor _needed_ to rest – but Jack had placed a hand on Owen's shoulder, shaking his head. He was pleased to see his friend bouncing around once again.

A few eventless hours passed in the Hub before Tosh called for Jack again, signalling another disappearance.

Jack sighed. "Who was it this time?"

"Just a baby," Tosh said, bringing up a profile on screen just like before. "James Evans. Five months old. Stolen from his pram, left burn marks in the seat."

"What's this?" a head suddenly popped out of nowhere from beside Jack, staring at the profile on screen. "Missing babies?"

Jack sighed again as the Doctor slipped on his glasses, scrutinising the screen. "Seven people have gone missing in the past two weeks. Identical circumstances. We're at a complete loss."

"Circumstances being?" the Doctor prompted, taking a spare chair and putting his elbows on the desk, chin in hands as he looked sideward up at Jack.

"They all disappear within two seconds, no one sees them go," Jack explained. "There's always a burn on the surface of the place they vanish."

"Any kind of link?"

"Only the burn marks."

The Doctor frowned. "Who have the victims been?"

Jack nodded to Tosh, who began to click at her computer once more.

"Elderly male and female, walking home from church, vanished with a trace," Tosh explained as she brought the profiles up in turn. "Infant child stolen from her baby carrier. Teenage girl never got back from town. Little boy never came out of his judo class. Yesterday's abduction, a little girl gone from outside of school, and now the baby boy taken from his pram."

The Doctor pursed his lips, stroking his chin and gazing at the computer screen through his thick-rimmed glasses. "So that's an elderly male, elderly female, teenage female, child female, child male, infant female and infant male. Four different age groups, each of a different gender. That's not coincidence, Jack. They'll be hunting for adult male and female, and teenage boy. Probably the adult female, first. Weakest target."

Jack nodded. "But what can we do?"

The Doctor frowned for a moment, before straightening up. "You said the area beneath where they stood was always burnt?"

Jack nodded. "Some kind of intense heat, we can't tell what."  
The Doctor almost looked disappointed at Jack. "You don't know what that is?"

Jack blinked, confused.

"Think, Jack!" The Doctor knocked on his head. "Or can I hear hollowness?"

"I don't know!"

The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes. "Spontaneous intense heat on unprotected flooring, Jack…" He tapped the manipulator strapped to Jack's wrist.

Jack's eyes widened in realisation. "Teleport!" he exclaimed.

People were gathering around them now, but the Doctor didn't seem to notice. "And what's the other thing about teleports?"

"Err…"

"Point A to point B, Jack. You can't teleport a random person from one random area to another; you need a point A, point A being a device on the person or a certain area in which they stand. With me so far?"

"I'm not," Donna said.

The Doctor ignored her and carried on. "So unless these abductors have got the entirety of Cardiff in a teleportation field…"

"Is that possible?" Gwen asked.

The Doctor frowned. "Yes, but it would need some pretty large plasma cores lining around the entire city."

"Which there isn't," Ianto inputted.

"Exactly," the Doctor said. "Which means point A was not an area. Point A was something the intended victim was carrying."

"Or wearing," Donna added.

The Doctor looked at her proudly, impressed. "Or wearing," he confirmed, before turning back to Jack. "Furthermore, if you can get me to the burnt pavement of a fresh disappearance, I might be able to pinpoint the point B of the teleport."

Jack was brimming with excitement. "How long till the trail goes cold?"

"About five hours, tops," the Doctor replied.

"Then what we waitin' for?" Donna said, hands on hips. "Let's go!"

"Just one second," the Doctor suddenly said, looking a little uncomfortable. "Just gotta do one thing before we go."

"Huh?"

The Doctor was scanning the floor for something, his eyes flickering from place to place. Finally he spotted what he was looking for before he relaxed, and gave Donna another huge grin.

"'Scuse me a sec," he said, before falling to his knees and grasping at the bin by Tosh's desk, sticking his head in. Once again, sounds ensued.

"Don't worry," Jack assured the confused-looking Toshiko. "I've ordered new bins."


	4. Superfluous

"That's the seventh in two weeks," one of the officers of South Wales Police noted to his colleague, staring sadly at the sight before him of the abandoned baby pram sat on the pavement. "There's just no explanation."

"Word is Torchwood's got a case file on this," the second policeman replied with a knowing nod of the head, conspiratorial. "And even they don't know what's going on."

The first policeman nodded. "Speak of the devil," he said, gesturing up the road. "Here they come."

The jet-black Torchwood SUV pulled up next to the crime scene with a loud screech of tires. The car doors flew open and out stepped Jack, Gwen, Donna and the Doctor. Gwen and Jack slammed the car doors shut behind them as they strutted over to the police tape and ducked below it without even a glance at the surrounding officers. The Doctor and Donna followed them, both a little more well-mannered as they smiled courteously to the policeman before ducking under the tape and joining the other two.

"Okay Doc, in your own time," Jack said, gesturing to the incident area in front of them where the lone red baby pram sat on the pavement. The Doctor nodded, taking his sonic screwdriver from inside his jacket pocket and kneeling down next to the pram. He held the sonic screwdriver to the seat, a look of intense concentration etched on his face. Minutes passed as the Doctor worked. Every now and again he would stop, raise the device to his ear and close one eye, frown, then start buzzing the baby seat again.

Ten minutes had passed before Donna sighed, tapping her foot on the pavement. "Are you done yet?"

"Shush," the Doctor said dismissively, buzzing at the pram seat.

Donna looked at him in pure indignation. "Did you 'shush' me?"

"Donna," Jack said quickly, giving her a gentle smile. She melted inside, and then shut up.

Suddenly the Doctor shot upright onto two feet, his eyes wide and alert. "Got it!" he exclaimed, running off down the road with his sonic held aloft. Jack and Donna started after him, but it wasn't long before the Doctor slowed to a halt on the pavement, grimacing with a hand on his stomach, hidden by his buttoned-up coat.

"All right?" Jack asked, stopping next to him.

"Remind me not to run again," the Doctor grunted.

Jack grinned and reached up to his earpiece as Donna reached them. "Gwen, bring the SUV around."

"You know," Donna began after a moment's thought, gazing at the Doctor. "All this makes me glad I never had children."

"Thanks for the words of support," the Doctor said sarcastically.

"No problem," Donna replied with a genuine smile.

The SUV screeched to a halt beside them, Gwen at the wheel. Jack pulled open the front door for Donna and shut it behind her before guiding the Doctor into the SUV.

"Go dead straight please, Gwen," the Doctor commanded as Jack got in and shut the door. "'Til I tell you to turn."

She nodded, and slammed down on the accelerator. The sudden motion made the Doctor almost heave, but he swallowed down the nausea.

"You all right?" Jack asked the Time Lord, but the Doctor suddenly turned on him as though Jack had just insulted his mother.

"Stop asking me if I'm all right!" he snapped, thoroughly agitated. "I'm fine, okay? Just dandy! Get off my back already, would you Harkness?"

"Hormones!" Donna said lightly.

"And you can shut up as well!" the Doctor snapped again rudely at Donna. Jack reached out towards him, but the Doctor was mad. "Don't _touch_ me!" he said, slapping away the hand. Jack obeyed without hesitation.

Silence ensued.

"Left, Gwen," the Doctor suddenly said, eyes still fixed to his sonic. She instantly obliged, yanking the steering wheel left. The Doctor almost careered headlong into the window; once again feeling the need to throw up but again swallowed it down.

Eventually the Doctor called Gwen to stop, and the SUV pulled up beside a large empty-looking warehouse.

The Doctor nodded, still staring at the sonic screwdriver. "Here."

Jack sighed, staring at the warehouse. "What the hell happened to originality?" He pressed a hand to his earpiece. "Tosh, can you track our position and analyse the defences of the warehouse due west?"

 _"Already doing it,"_ Tosh answered, coming through on the SUV radio for all to hear.

"Ooo, she's good," the Doctor complemented.

 _"You can't handle this,"_ Tosh's voice came after a pause. _"It's not stormable. Automatic laser weapons detect movement and shoot on sight."_

"Oh come on, that's not so bad," the Doctor started. "I've dealt with those before. Be prepared to lose a shoe, though." He sighed reminiscently. "That was a fun day. Did I ever tell you, Donna? Sarah got locked in a room and was dying from asphyxiation when…"

"Doctor," Jack interrupted, pressing a hand to his earpiece again. "Okay, we'll get back to the Hub. There's gotta be another way of doin' this. Ianto, order some pizza, please. This is gonna be a long night."

"Can we have anchovies?" the Doctor suddenly said, brightening up.

"With anchovies," Jack said into the earpiece.

"And onions," the Doctor added.

"And onions."

"And tomato?"

"Tomato."

"Ham, pineapple, cheese, chicken… Oh, and can we have some vanilla ice cream?"

Jack stared at him. "Okay, Ianto, you get that?"

 _"So that's anchovies, onions, tomato, ham, pineapple, cheese and chicken with a side order of indigestion and severe vomiting followed by vanilla ice cream dessert…"_

The girls giggled as the Doctor scowled at Jack, arms folded.

Jack looked innocent. "Hey, don't shoot the messenger! That everythin' you want?"

"Onions."

"We got that."

"No," the Doctor said quickly, hand in the air. "I want one lot on the pizza, then another lot with the ice cream."

He was met by silence. Donna was staring at him in total bemusement, as though he'd just ripped off his clothes and danced naked around Cardiff Bay.

"Can I get a different pizza?" she wondered.

* * *

"So, what are our options?" Captain Jack Harkness demanded of his team as they tried in vain to keep their eyes off of the Time Lord currently stuffing himself full with onion-seasoned vanilla ice cream just across the desk. "We can't break in straight away, so can we nullify their defences then attack?"

Tosh shook her head. "Their security system is amazing."

The Doctor nodded, swallowing down another spoonful. "Even I can't hack it! And that's saying something."

"Can we lure them out?"

"What you gonna do, lay a trail of doggy biscuits?" Donna suggested crudely. "No, the only way we're gettin' in is through the front door."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Owen wondered.

"You said they would be lookin' for an adult female, right?" Donna asked, looking at the Doctor who nodded. "Err, hello!" She gave a wave. "Adult female right here!"

The Doctor sat up and put the bowl down on the table, taking notice as the others looked at each other unsurely. "Wait, what? Bait? No way."

Donna folded her arms. "Think I can't handle it?"

"I can't let you."

"Who are you, my mum?" Donna shot back. "You guys need results? Put a tracker on me or somethin' and I'll walk right up to them and go in."

"No! It's not happening!"

Jack could see this heated discussion was going to get even more heated so he quickly stepped in to break up the two. "Donna, the Doctor's right. It would be safer to send either Gwen or Tosh in."

"Actually," Tosh interrupted, almost hesitantly. "I couldn't hack much, but from what I saw the Torchwood team are on some kind of blacklist. They won't touch us."

"Exactly," Donna said triumphantly, a broad grin on her face. "So, I'm the only one for the job."

Jack shot the Doctor a look. "She's right, y'know."

The Doctor knew when he was defeated. He glared at them both with enough poison to kill a small army, picking up his bowl again and unhappily scraping up the last of his ice cream and onion mix, shoving it into his gob. He upped, and left.

Jack watched him go, frowning as Donna sighed and rolled her eyes. "He's such a woman."

Without a word Jack got to his feet and followed the Time Lord out the door.

* * *

"Doctor?"

Jack opened the door to a very dark room, but he could still see the silhouette of the Doctor sat on the bed, facing towards the wall.

"Doctor?" Jack tried tentatively.

The Doctor looked over his shoulder at him, and Jack could see tears in his eyes. The Time Lord quickly looked back at the far wall. Jack sighed, moving forward towards his best friend and taking a seat on the bed next to him. The Doctor had a hand on his exposed swollen belly, his shirt undone. Jack remained silent.

"I hate this," the Doctor whispered, tears in his eyes. "I really, really hate this."

It was rare the Doctor ever showed his emotions, and Jack knew he had to tread carefully. He rested a hand on the Doctor's arm, but said nothing.

"It's moving. I can feel it moving," the Doctor continued. "I can feel it growing and moving and sucking the life out of me… and I just feel I have to protect it. Why? It's going to kill me. It already _is_ killing me."

"I know," Jack said softly. "They're relyin' on that instinct."

"I haven't got long left, Jack. You know that."

"I'm not gonna let you die."

The Doctor laughed humourlessly through heaving sobs. "There's nothing you can do, and you know it."

Jack fell silent. He did know it. But he refused to believe it.

"Just promise me you'll get Donna back to London safely."

Jack couldn't bring himself to nod, so he swiftly moved on the subject. "Get into bed 'cause you look like crap. Can I get you a drink?"

The Doctor grinned weakly, sniffing back his tears. "Tea."

Jack smiled back. "One tea comin' right up."


	5. Unintended

Morning came quickly. Jack was just clearing away the remainders of yesterday's bizarre pizza dinner when the Doctor appeared in the doorway, grinning from ear to ear with his hair everywhere.

"Hey, you're glowin'!" Jack said with a huge smile, feeling slightly relieved after yesterday's confrontation that the Doctor was awake, alert and happy. "How you feelin'?"

"Brilliant!" the Doctor replied, beaming away as he tried to pat down his chaotic hair. Jack snorted, and the Doctor pulled an innocent face. "What?" he asked.

"Nice hairdo!"

"Only because you won't let me back into the TARDIS for my hair gel."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "You use hair gel?"

"Of course!" the Doctor snapped, suddenly agitated. "What, you think I wake up with this hairstyle? It takes _hours_ and _hours_ to twist, flick and adjust this hair to absolute perfection!"

Jack fell silent, not wanting to provoke the pregnant man any further. Thankfully, it seemed his hormones were only temporarily firing as he quickly cooled off, and soon was smiling again. "Where's Donna?"

"She's getting kitted up," Jack explained, eyes dropping to the Doctor's abdomen. The shirt buttons were strained badly, about to pop at any minute. "D'you want a bigger shirt or somethin'?"

"If you don't mind," the Doctor said, still beaming away. "I feel like I'm being crushed by an anaconda. And let me tell you, that's _not_ nice."

"I'll get you one of mine," Jack said, beckoning him to follow as he walked past the Doctor and out of the office, towards his hole-in-the-floor bedroom. "Too bad dresses ain't acceptable in this century for men to wear, else I got a pretty little number that would fit you just right."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," the Doctor replied airily as they reached the bedroom and Jack dropped down, disappearing from view. The Doctor leant forward slightly, unintentionally putting a hand on his belly as he peered down into the hole. He could see a bed, unmade, and a few random pieces of underwear scattered about the place. Sharply he drew up again, not really inclined to see much more.

A few more seconds and Jack's head reappeared, popping out of the hole like a Jack-in-a-box. He climbed out and handed a clean-looking white round-neck t-shirt to the Time Lord, sporting a grin.

"Thanks," the Doctor said, reaching up to pop the buttons on his shirt. He let out a long sigh of relief when he found he could breathe again, pulling the new one on.

"Suits ya," Jack said, still grinning. The Doctor pulled a 'yeah right' face, once again unconsciously putting a hand on his abdomen and rubbing it gently. Jack noticed this, his face falling slightly.

"So when we kicking off?" the Doctor asked.

"When Donna's ready," Jack answered simply, forcing himself to tear his eyes away from the now very apparent bump. "I think Owen wants to check on you, too."

"Okay," the Doctor said happily, taking his hand off of his stomach. "I'll wait in my room."

* * *

Soon enough the Doctor felt the oh-so familiar spread of goo over his badly bruised stomach skin and Owen put the scanner to it, Jack looking at the picture on the portable screen – a clear sonogram of a sleeping baby.

"Head, body," Owen gestured to each blob in turn. "Looks fairly humanoid right now, eyes almost fully developed. And it's a…" He paused, gazing at the image. "Girl!"

Jack watched as the Doctor's face lit up, a fresh smile on his face. "Girl," the Time Lord repeated, mesmerised. "A little girl."

Owen caught Jack's eye, but Jack was glaring at him in contempt. Jack could have punched him. He'd just made the bond between the Doctor and the spawn even stronger than before. Owen quickly pulled the device from the Doctor and the image was gone, but the damage had already been done.

"I'm ready!" Donna suddenly appeared in the doorway with her arms in the air, looking as though she expected a parade. When she didn't get one her hands dropped to her sides and she walked in, smiling timidly at Jack before waving at the Doctor. "Blimey, you're gettin' big now, arentcha?"

"It's a girl," the Doctor said, looking as though he might cry with happiness. "My little baby girl."

Donna was about to explode in a thousand congratulations and a million smiles when Jack cut over the top of her, his expression suddenly furious.

"Doctor, you _have_ to stop thinkin' about this spawn as your daughter!" he said firmly, leaning over the bed to lock his eyes with the Doctor's. "It isn't yours! You shouldn't even be carryin' it!"

The Doctor suddenly looked so small and innocent. "… I know, I just…" he trailed off, looking down only to find his hand was resting on his stomach again. He quickly took it off, wrapping his arms around his chest to hug himself. Jack's face fell at the sight, as Donna instinctively moved forward and wrapped her arms around the Doctor like a caring mother, shooting Jack a death glare.

"You might be gorgeous but I ain't havin' that!" she said strictly. "He's pregnant and vulnerable and needs friends to help him through, he doesn't need you yellin' at him!"

"Donna…" the Doctor began, but Donna cut straight over him.

"Quiet, you!" She turned back to Jack. "Understand?"

"Donna," Jack began seriously. "He knows he's bondin' too much with it himself…"

"That doesn't grant you instant permission to yell at him!" Donna countered, thoroughly agitated now.

"I'm sorry," Jack said quickly before Donna could get any angrier. He took a seat on the bed, resting his hands on the Doctor's bump. He could feel the spawn within, a head, and arm… Growing and sucking out the life from his best friend. He resented it. "Doctor," he said lowly, aware of Donna's gaze on him as he took his hands off. He could see the Doctor's two brown eyes; innocent and watering like a five-year-old boy, looking at him through Donna's mess of hair. "You know as well as I do why you can't bond with this thing inside you. In the long run it'll only crush you when the inevitable happens and I…" he paused, suddenly wanting the other people in the room to magically disappear. "And… And I can't watch you go through that."

"I know," the Doctor said, still hanging onto Donna as though she were a large teddy bear. "I can't help it… I'm trying but… I just can't control my emotions, they're just…" his voice was wavering again, and he quickly returned to Donna for comfort, falling silent.

"Donna," a voice suddenly came from the doorway and everyone turned to see Tosh standing there, looking a little nervous about interrupting their conversation. "Sorry to interrupt, but you have to get going pretty soon – the sooner, the better."

Donna nodded, turning back to the man she was hugging. "You gonna be all right, Space Man?"

He nodded before managing to raise a small smile. "You're fun to hug."

She grinned back as she pulled away, getting onto her feet and looking pointedly at Jack. "You look after him, you hear me?"

"Yes ma'am," Jack said with a mock salute.

* * *

As Donna wandered around the Welsh capital, she wondered, not for the first time, just what exactly she'd offered herself up for.

She had microphones concealed in every possible place conceivable, and tiny little cameras hidden where microphones were not. She'd been given a microscopic tracker and also one of Tosh's own technological creations – a Bio Emphasiser – which would apparently make her easy to find for the aliens teleporting. She was wired up to show life signs back at the Hub, and infinite amount of gadgets for infiltration littered her pockets. She had Jack ranting instructions in her ear that she wasn't really listening to, and the Doctor was in the background seemingly switching back and forth between extremely docile and incredibly anxious. She hoped he would be okay whilst she was gone.

If she ever got taken, that was.

She browsed in a few shops, making mental notes of where she'd like the Doctor to flash his psychic paper for instant purchase after all this was over. She spotted a restaurant just across from where she stood and quickly checked her pockets – she had a bit of money, and she was starting to get hungry. She began to walk forward… And that was when she heard it.

 _"Can you hear that?"_ Donna asked into one of her many microphones.

Jack leant forward, a frowned creased on his forehead. "What can you hear?"

 _"It's like… like the tide on the shore…"_ Donna replied. _"Oh, it's gettin' louder…"_

The Doctor practically shoved Jack out of the way and took over the microphone, worry etched on his face. "Teleport," he said quickly, eyes flickering between the monitor showing her life signs and the monitor tracking her location. "Keep talking, Donna."

 _"Doctor…"_ she gasped. _"I can't see, everything's goin' white!"_

"Donna, stay with me!"

 _"It's so loud!"_

The Doctor's eyes flickered across the monitors again. Her life signs were getting faster and faster, the tracker still in central Cardiff. "You're gonna be fine, stay calm."

 _"Doctor I can't breathe!"_

"You're gonna be fine!"

 _"Doctor! Help me! Help…"_

Then everything fell silent abruptly. The Doctor's eyes snapped to the life sign monitor, waiting with baited breath as the before constant life signs suddenly fell away to nothing. The blip of the tracker completely disappeared.

"Donna," the Doctor whispered under his breath. "Come on, come on, please, please please please please…"

Nanoseconds felt like hours. The Doctor could hear his own heartbeats ringing in his ears, almost deafening him.

Suddenly the life sign monitor jumped back on and the Doctor breathed a sigh of complete relief. No irregularities, and the tracker had changed location to the very warehouse he'd tracked point B to.

"Donna? Can you hear me?" he asked into the microphone, desperate for a reply. "Donna? Donna, talk to me. Can you hear me?" Nothing but silence came back. He drew back, knowing it was completely useless.

"Everything's functioning perfectly on her side," Tosh informed them, tapping at her computer.

"She must be unconscious," the Doctor determined. He gritted his teeth, clenching his fists. "We have to get her out, now."

"Doctor." Jack rested a hand on his shoulder. "It's up to Donna for the moment. She's gotta disable the security first, then we can get in and get her."

There was a pause, and then the Doctor nodded. "Okay. So we wait."


	6. Troublesome

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is totally Donna's chapter :D

"Oh blimey, what did I have to drink last night?" were Donna's first words as she raised her head, blinking to try and straighten her vision back to normal. She found herself in a small, plain room, lying on a relatively comfy bed neither too hot nor too cold. It was for this reason she wondered what had happened – surely being abducted by aliens would be a bit more uncomfortable than this?

"The adult female awakens 233 zagnons after teleport," a deadpan voice said.

The voice startled Donna and she sat up, surprised to find a stumpy red-skinned alien with small eyes and a small head staring back at her, scrutinising. It held some kind of slim black device to – what she presumed was – its mouth. Standing like bodyguards either side of it were two more burly versions of the one in the middle, also watching her carefully.

"The female takes a moment to look at her surroundings, and assesses Group Delta."

Donna stared at them some more, wondering for a moment what on Earth she should do. The plan was to get to a computer terminal of any kind and stick a tiny bead onto any part of it, and then Tosh could access the security database and quietly deactivate security so Jack and the Doctor could come into the base and rescue her and the other abducted people. That was, if the Doctor wasn't busy giving birth.

"Well," she said loudly, spreading a smile. She was taking a leaf out of the Doctor's book. "Nice to meet you, I'm Donna."

The alien looked surprised at her reaction to the situation. "The adult female pleasantly greets Group Delta. She has an assigned name, 'Donna'… reference seven point five point seven…"

"Okay, that's gettin' annoying now."

"The female begins to find my documenting 'annoying'."

"Shut up!"

"The female requests I 'shut up'. This may be metaphorical."

"This may be metaphorical!" Donna mimicked.

"The female begins to imitate me. This could be interpreted as a 'humour' device."

Donna threw her arms up in the air, exasperated.

"The female human replaces verbal communication with hand gestures."

Donna raised a hand to her mouth, miming the slim black device in her own hand as she stared at the alien in front of her. "The alien continues to document my every movement," she said, mimicking its deadpan voice. "It seems to think it has superior intelligence."

"The adult female mocks me, imitating my pose."

"The alien's observation skills are apparently above the aver-"

 _"Donna!"_ a voice suddenly interrupted her, and Donna almost jumped through the roof.

"Doctor?" she said, surprised.

 _"Carry on talking to them!"_

"Oh…" she looked back at the aliens, who were eyeing her in confusion. "So… What exactly is gonna happen to me now?"

"Commencing test two…" the alien speaking into the box suddenly turned and abruptly left the room. The two burly guards moved forward and grabbed each of her arms, dragging her onto her feet.

"Oi!" she barked, struggling in their grip.

 _"Donna, what's happening?"_

She struggled to think of a way she could answer him without making the guards suspicious. "Errr… You have grabbed my arms and are draggin' me through the doorway, two big burly aliens with red skin and small heads!"

There was a pause. She could almost hear the slap of the Doctor's hand on his forehead.

 _"Okay, you know what you have to do. When you've done it, say…"_ there was a pause as he thought. _"… Egg."_

"Yeah 'cause that's not suspicious," Donna muttered under her breath, before adding, "and now I'm hungry, thank you very much."

She was dragged through a sliding door into a giant room of various instruments and superior technology. Her eyes fixed on the many computer terminals placed strategically around the room – she prepared herself for what she was about to do.

As she was taken further into the room she noticed it was completely silent, save for the random beeps of surrounding computers. It smelt strongly of lavender – enough to make her want to gag. She didn't get to see much more as she was dragged into a side room, also alive with terminals and that potent stench of lavender.

The burly guards finally let go of her and she stumbled forward, cursing her way into hell as she looked up and found the alien with the black box standing in front of her, observing her.

"Test two is about to commence. The adult female looks confused. As a standard procedure, the subject is allowed three questions. Ask three questions, adult female."

Donna's eyes flickered around the room. She needed to find a way to get the alien to turn around so she could place the bead. She dug her hands into her pockets in a casual way, gripping the bead in the palm of her right hand ready.

"Why does it stink of lavender in here?" Donna asked, more out of intrigue than actually trying to get the alien to look away.

"From observation we found that humans like this certain smell," the alien answered simply. "You have two questions remaining."

Donna thought hard again for a question that might make the alien look around. "Err… What's gonna happen to me?" She hoped that maybe it would have to check a database or something…

No such luck. Its eyes remained fixed to hers. "You will under go a total of five tests. Test two is about to commence; you will be rendered unconscious by trauma to the skull. You have one remaining question."

She scrunched up her eyes, thinking hard. Something to make it look away… Ah! She opened her eyes again and fixed on a point behind the alien, her eyes widening. "Why has your computer got smoke comin' outta it?"

The alien turned, and Donna quickly dived to the left, placing the bead on the back of the terminal.

"The egg has been laid!" she hissed quietly so the Doctor could hear her as she drew back, feeling rather pleased with herself as the alien looked back at her in confusion.

"Oh, that's funny, it stopped!" she said, giving an innocent smile.

 _"Message received,"_ came the Doctor's voice. _"Good work, Donna!"_

"The three questions have been used. Test two will commence in ten zagnons."

It was then Donna's brain decided to catch up with her thought processes, and she realised what the alien had said in reply to her second question… The two burly guards grabbed her again as another appeared from behind her, holding a steel pole. She gulped.

"The chicken has laid the egg, but the chicken's about to go to the slaughter!" she said loudly, her voice wavering as she stared at the object she knew was about to impact with her head.

"The adult female begins talking nonsense from the emotion of fear of injury, reference nine point nine point nine…" the alien observed. "Five zagnons until impact."

 _"Hold on in there, Donna,"_ the Doctor's perfectly calm voice came again as Donna panicked.

"The chicken hopes the farmer's wife will hurry up and save the chicken from a grizzly fate!"

"She continues to talk nonsense," the alien said into his black box. "Three zagnons remaining."

 _"Donna, calm down. We'll be there in twenty minutes…"_

"Two zagnons…"

"Calm down?" she screeched as the burly alien rose the metal pole. "This chicken is an _egg-laying_ hen, not Sainbury's next special offer!"

"One zagnon…"

 _"Donna you're gonna be fine, we're already in the SUV, we're…"_

But Donna didn't hear the end of his futile reassurances as the metal pole came crashing down onto her head.

* * *

The Torchwood SUV screeched to a halt outside the warehouse for the second time in as many days, Jack, the Doctor, Owen and Gwen jumping out onto the concrete. All but the Time Lord were armed to the teeth.

Jack turned back to Ianto driving the SUV. "Do a couple of circuits around the block, this shouldn't take long."

Ianto nodded and pulled away. Jack turned back to the other three, Owen and Gwen already priming their guns, much to the Doctor's annoyance. "Okay, we wanna do this quick and efficiently. According to Tosh there's a spaceship parked inside that warehouse, but the security is down so it'll be easy to get in. We'll go in together, Gwen and Owen, you're paired, cover each other and take the lead of the group. Doctor, you're with me, we'll follow them up. When we get to the split, Owen and Gwen you retrieve the victims from the holding cells, the Doctor and I will go after Donna and any other subjects currently going through testing. The police are standing by to escort the victims to safety. Owen, I want you to check the victims over for injuries and make sure they're treated before getting back to the SUV. Gwen, once you've got the victims out come back inside for us. Understood?"

Three nods came back at him and he gestured towards the warehouse door. "Move out."

* * *

"You alright?" Jack whispered to the Doctor as they crouched inside an alcove waiting for one of the aliens to unwittingly walk by. Donna's tracker had stopped signalling, but Tosh suspected it was more the fault of dead batteries.

"Fine," the Doctor replied with a smile. He was still glowing and feeling incredibly positive. "Bit sore, but that's okay."

"I'm sorry about all this," Jack suddenly said, looking at the floor in shame. "I should've stopped them from shootin' you…"

"Nothing you could've done," the Doctor replied, persisting with his smile. "I wandered in at the wrong moment. Seems to happen to me a lot…"

Jack couldn't help but grin at this. He opened his mouth to reply, but he suddenly heard footsteps coming down the corridor. He froze, automatically launching out a hand to rest on the Doctor's arm.

Sure enough, a red-skinned alien walked past their hiding place and Jack jumped out, grabbing the alien from behind and pressing his gun to the alien's temple.

"Don't speak unless we tell you to, and maybe I won't kill you," Jack said with a business-like smile as the Doctor got to his full height. They dragged their hostage into a side room filled with boxes, shoving the alien to the floor as Jack pointed his gun at the alien's head, his boot resting on its chest.

"We're lookin' for a friend of ours, care to show us the way?" Jack asked.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about!" the alien protested. "Please let me go!"

Jack rolled his eyes and looked pointedly at the Doctor who took the hint and stepped forward.

"Let's see… humanoid looking, with red skin and a small head. Planet of origin… let me guess… Palfrax? Am I right?"

The alien nodded, whimpering in fear.

"Which makes you a Fraxian – that's an awfully long way from Sol 3. What are you lot doing here, eh? I would accept an answer of 'sightseeing' if you weren't abducting men, women and children of all ages left, right and centre. So do tell me, why are you here in this dim little warehouse in the middle of Cardiff stealing away the residents of Earth?"

The alien remained silent, its eyes fixed on the gun pointed at its face.

Jack sighed. "Look, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way." The ex-Time Agent pointedly clicked the safety off of his gun. The alien squeaked in terror.

"We're experimenting!" it answered in a very high-pitched voice. "We're cataloguing the species of this galaxy!"

"What for?" the Doctor asked. "So you can invade them?"

"If it's achievable, then yes!"

"Yeah, word of warning for you about that…" The Doctor dropped down next to the alien, leaning close. "If you try anything on this planet, then you'll have to get past me first. And trust me, I'm a good goalkeeper. 2012 World Cup semi-finals – that's me with the gloves for England."

"Really?" Jack asked, intrigued. "I saw that match when they played the 100 Greatest World Cup Matches on the Universal Broadcasting Corporation! Damned good save, that was!"

"Thanks!" the Doctor said, before turning back to the alien. "So, you wanna tell us where they're holding the adult female right now?"

"In the hold!" the alien said quickly. "They do the experiments there!"

Jack nodded, reaching up to his earpiece. "Tosh, you got that?"

 _"Yes, I can see it. You need to take a right out of the room you're in, straight for a hundred metres then down the stairs to the bottom, then the first left."_

"Got it," Jack replied, eyes looking back down at the alien. "Now for you…"

The alien suddenly sprang into action, jumping onto its feet and diving behind a supply box, emerging with a laser weapon and firing at Jack before anyone had the chance to blink. The Doctor stared at the now smoking Jack laid on the floor, not quite able to comprehend what had just happened.

"This way!" the alien gestured towards the door with its gun. "Or you'll be dead as well!"

The Doctor found he could only comply, putting his hands in the air as he let himself be led at gunpoint away from Jack's dead body.


	7. Arduous

"Jack?"

Jack came back to life just in time to find Gwen leaning over him, shaking his shoulder. He blinked, trying to recall what had happened before he had been shot.

"That little bastard!" he exclaimed as he used a combination of Gwen and supply boxes to get onto his feet. "It shot me!" He quickly looked around the room, noticing the missing element almost instantly. "Where's the Doctor?"

"He was gone when I got here…" Gwen answered, pressing a hand to her earpiece. "Tosh, you got his tracker?"

 _"He's headed towards the main room where the Fraxian directed you to. From what I can make out through his microphone he's at gunpoint, about to be experimented on too."_

Jack quickly retrieved his weapon from the floor, putting it in his holster. "Okay, we're gonna go for plan B. Get ready guys, this is gonna get messy."

* * *

The Doctor whistled, impressed as he was pushed through the corridors by the obviously nervous Fraxian. "Nice ship! Must've cost a bit! Such perfect décor!"

"Be quiet and keep moving!" the Fraxian demanded, ramming his gun into the Doctor's back. The Doctor fell silent, knowing where the line was drawn. He was utterly expendable.

They finally came to stop at double doors, where the Doctor knew the hold lay in wait on the other side. The Fraxian shoved its gun harder into the Doctor's back, leaning forward and placing its hand on a panel at the side. The double doors slid open smoothly, revealing a small bleak room lined with various electrical equipment. A dozen or so Fraxians buzzed around the room looking busy, a platform in the centre of the room whereupon stood six slanted metal tables, metal bands placed in the right places for hands and feet. The Doctor's eyes flickered across them at the helpless human – it was Donna Noble, currently looking at him with an 'it's-about-time' expression.

"Donna!" the Doctor realised, eyes widening in recognition. However, he didn't get the chance to say much else as suddenly Donna yelled, "Doctor, behind you!" but it proved to be too late as the heavy object came crashing down onto his head and he fell to the floor, out cold. "Oh bloody hell," Donna said, rolling her eyes. "What a plank."

"Excellent," the alien with the black box Donna had since dubbed 'Spotty' due to the large growths over its face. "An adult male!"

"Don't touch him, Spotty!" Donna shouted, but the aliens ignored her as they grabbed the Doctor and dragged him across the grated flooring, depositing him mere inches from where Donna was. The aliens were eyeing the Doctor with glee. She could see where this was going…

The alien raised the device to its mouth. "Test two complete. Mature male of the species susceptible to a forced state of unconsciousness through heavy trauma to the 'skull'. Other tests on this area have shown this is the region where the main 'brain' of this species is kept, reference six point seven point one." The alien moved forward to the Doctor, bending down next to him and examining the area where the fire extinguisher had impacted with his skull. "The area of trauma has begun to darken, and internal red matter – reference five point nine point zero – is expelled from the wound…"

Donna struggled against her bonds. "Get away from him, Spotty!"

The alien looked up at Donna, considering her for a moment. "Adult female shows signs of hostility and protective nature over the male. She remains powerless."

"See if I'm powerless when my boot hits your alien genitals!" Donna shrieked. "Let him go or I'll show you what your own liver looks like!"

The Doctor began to stir from unconsciousness, a frown creasing across his forehead as he groaned softly. The alien stood up and backed away from him.

"Adult male shows signs of consciousness precisely 50 zagnons after trauma to the skull. Surfacing is slow."

The Doctor's eyes flickered open and he raised a hand to his painfully throbbing head, bringing it away again to see the glistening of his own blood on his fingertips.

"Adult male is unaware of the extent of the damage until he examines it himself and finds the internal red matter," the alien spoke into his little black box again, and the Doctor looked up, confused, his eyes scanning around until they settled on Donna.

"I ran in like a loony, didn't I?"

Donna nodded. "It was quite funny when you got hit with the fire extinguisher, though."

"I'm sure it was," the Doctor muttered, hand still on his head.

"Male shows capability of language. The female and male are able to interact together in a pleasant manner."

The Doctor snorted with laughter. Donna glared at him.

"Commence test three," the alien said, nodding to one of its associates. It stepped forward, grabbing the Doctor and hauling him onto both feet. The Doctor struggled, enough to throw them off of him before he received a blow between his shoulders and he fell back down flat onto the floor.

"Adult male shows signs of struggle, discipline seems to be invoking discomfort from trauma to the physical body…"

Donna shrieked in disapproval as the alien issued a harsh, square blow to the Doctor's abdomen. He jolted, eyes flying open and coughing intensely as he curled in on himself in agony, arms wrapped around his midriff.

"As in all the other test subjects, trauma to the midsection introduces difficulty in the respiratory process…" the alien bent down to the Doctor, and looked genuinely surprised. "And in the adult male causes the ejection of their red matter…"

Donna's eyes widened. He was coughing up blood? The baby…

"Don't you _dare_ hurt him again! He's sick!" Donna screamed, but again found herself being ignored. The aliens grabbed the Doctor again and hauled him onto his feet, and this time he didn't struggle as he continued to cough up blood. They slammed him down onto a metal table and fixed his hands and feet into the metal bands; his body limp with blood running in rivulets down the side of his face from his head wound. Donna once again struggled against her bonds as the Doctor was suddenly bathed in a warm blue light, the aliens furiously tapping at a nearby computer.

"Interesting," the alien surmised. "It looks as though the male of the species carries the offspring… which would explain the protective nature of his mate."

Donna sighed. "I'm not his mate!"

The alien regarded her for a moment, before speaking into the box again. "It seems like the female of the species does not assign herself to one male…"

Donna's eyes widened. "Are you callin' me a slut?"

"… The male remains in a low state of consciousness and continues to eject red matter. The male appears to have a binary vascular system…"

Donna had had just about enough of being ignored. She threw back her head, took in a huge lungful of air… "LET! HIM! GO!" she screamed in the full force of the Noble loudmouth heritage, the aliens suddenly grabbing the sides of their heads and falling to the floor in agony.

"Female displays mammalian response of a high pitched cry that hurts the tympanic membrane!" the alien gasped into his black box, clearly in pain.

"And that's only the _beginning_ if you don't let them go!" came a voice from the doorway, and to Donna Noble it was as though Superman had come to save the day. Captain Jack Harkness stepped through, his gun raised high in the air; his handsome features perfectly lit and defined in the dark, lifeless environment. "I don't appreciate people torturin' my friends, y'know."

"Kill him!" the alien shrieked of its soldiers, and instantly the deafening sound of laser weapons exploded from out of nowhere, aiming towards Jack. He ducked and rolled, Donna's heart racing as she swooned in adoration. Suddenly the room was in chaos as Jack ducked and jumped around the room, leading the trigger-happy aliens away from the doorway.

"Now, Gwen!" Jack shouted over his shoulder and the Welsh woman appeared in the doorway wearing a gas mask, throwing some kind of grenade into the room. Instantly a white jet of gas hissed out of the grenade and Donna's vision being to go blurry, her head heavy on her shoulders…

Jack left the collapsing aliens behind him, fixing his gas mask over his face as he reached the bound Doctor and Donna. Donna was already rendered unconscious by the gas, and the Doctor's eyes slipped shut the moment Jack reached him. Jack reached inside the Doctor's jacket pocket and brought out the sonic screwdriver, buzzing at the Doctor's restraints and catching the unconscious Time Lord in both arms before Gwen appeared next to him. He passed her the sonic.

"Press here!" He demonstrated to her and she nodded, turning to Donna. Jack adjusted the Doctor in his grip and started towards the door, but alien reinforcements were already arriving. He spun back around to Gwen and Donna, but Gwen was cornered, held at gunpoint with her arms in the air.

"Run, Jack!" she implored, her voice loud and clear through his earpiece. For a moment Jack shifted uncomfortably on his feet, indecision gripping him before a laser hit the wall right next to his head. The weight of the precious cargo in his arms made itself clear and he finally turned tail, and ran.

He burst out of the warehouse door and sprinted out into the main road, ordering Ianto to bring the SUV around. He was aware he was probably being pursued so he kept running until the SUV screeched to a halt beside him, the door flying open before he threw himself in and it pulled sharply away.

Owen quickly passed an oxygen mask to Jack who held it to the Doctor's face, still cradling him in both arms. The Doctor remained still as Owen began to examine his head wound.

"What did they do?" Owen asked, wiping at the blood to reveal a spectacular black and purple bruise already forming.

"When we got there they hit him in the stomach, he started coughin' up blood," Jack replied as Owen finished cleaning the wound.

"I need to scan," Owen said instantly, checking the Doctor's pupils for dilation. "The ba… spawn might have been injured." He pulled away, checking the oxygen canister was releasing a sufficient amount of oxygen.

The Doctor was beginning to stir. His eyes flickered open straight up to meet Jack looking down at him, almost leaping out of Jack's arms in shock. It took a moment before Jack realised he still had his gas mask on.

"Are you my mummy?" Jack joked, and the Doctor managed a smile before he suddenly erupted into coughing again, coating the inside of the mask in red. Owen swore and pulled it off again as Jack helped the Doctor to sit up, the Time Lord's arms wrapped resolutely around his abdomen as he groaned in agony, breathing rapidly. Owen drew up his shirt and felt over his swollen stomach, the Doctor hissing in pain and tensing further in Jack's grip.

"It's swelling," Owen muttered, more to himself than the others. "The internal bleeding is making the abdominal muscles swollen and rigid. Trouble is, the spawn doesn't want the muscles to go rigid. It wants to expand."

The Doctor continued to breathe rapidly, back arched in Jack's arms with his eyes closed tightly, before once again coughing up blood all over Jack's shirt. Jack winced at the destruction of his best shirt as Owen reached into his medical bag and picked out a needle, jabbing it expertly into the Doctor's arm and pushing it down. The Doctor's movements gradually began to slow more and more until he finally sagged completely in Jack's grip, still breathing rapidly.

"Putting him out of his misery," Owen explained his actions. Jack nodded in reply, looking down at the Doctor as Owen placed a fresh Oxygen mask over the Time Lord's face. Jack could feel Owen's eyes resting on him as he adjusted the mask, pulling the Doctor further onto his lap. "He won't die tonight," Owen assured him, his face of sincerity. "This is nothing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :( Poor Doctor, you'd have thought he'd have learnt by now not to take part in any fic I write :-/


	8. Agonising

Another minute ticked by.

Jack paced up and down in the corridor outside the room, his eyes fixed resolutely to the ground, deep in thought. Owen had entered the room with the Doctor no less than thirty minutes previously, and Jack hadn't heard anything since. He was gripped by fear, worry and exhaustion; his eyelids heavy and his muscles aching, but he wasn't about to go to bed.

He'd lost Gwen… and Donna. If the Doctor was coherent enough when he found out, he might just explode in a fit of rage. When it came to companions the Doctor could be ferociously protective, ever since he'd been with Rose. Ever since he'd _lost_ Rose. Jack stopped pacing, staring at the floor in front of him. He had just left Gwen and Donna – _deserted_ them – to the fate of 'experiments'… he had to form a plan, and quickly.

"Coffee?"

Jack turned to meet Ianto, standing next to him holding a silver tray, a single mug of coffee stood in the centre.

Jack's face relaxed, and he raised a small half-smile. "Thanks," he said, taking the much-needed coffee and taking a sip. Ianto made instant coffee like Thorntons made chocolate.

"How's it looking?"

"Owen hasn't come out since they went in," Jack said lowly, unable to make eye contact with Ianto. "I lost track of time."

"Don't be worried," Ianto gave him a supportive smile. "Owen wouldn't say he could handle it if it wasn't true. You know how he feels about false hope."

Jack nodded. Strangely that one sentence made him feel a bit better. "I know my relationship with the Doctor is probably puttin' you on edge."

"I understand," Ianto replied. "Loving someone you can never be with. Been there, done that." He paused, musing on it for a moment. "He is cute, I'll give you that. Bit skinny, but it works."

Jack grinned. "Thanks, Ianto."

Without another word, Ianto turned and left Jack alone once again. Jack finished his coffee, ten minutes passing before the door he'd been pacing in front of for so long suddenly flew open and Owen came out of the room, his expression grave. Jack pounced on him immediately.

"Is he okay?"

Owen deliberately evaded answering the question. "His abdomen is still bruised and swollen. His consciousness has decreased and he's symptomatic with a rapid pulse and breathing difficulties."

"And the spawn?"

"Came off a bit better," Owen supplied. "It seemed to like being hit. It's the size of a fist right now, and in the middle of a growth spurt. It's gonna be football-sized by tomorrow."

"Is he awake?"

"Vaguely," Owen replied. "Jack, if these aliens aren't back by midday tomorrow, I'm cutting it out."

"But…"

"Do you _want_ him to die?" Owen demanded. Jack's gaze dropped to the floor. He didn't reply. "Midday, Jack. And no more outings."

* * *

Jack daringly pushed open the door to the room, almost dreading what he'd find inside. The Doctor was sitting up against the headrest, his head lolled back with his eyes lightly closed. He still sported the hefty-looking bruise on his temple, the paleness of his face making the bruise stand out harshly from his skin.

Jack sat down on the bed carefully, looking at the Doctor's tired face. He took the Time Lord's cool hand in both of his, squeezing it gently. The Doctor opened his eyes slightly, looking at Jack through slits. His eyes were wet and rimmed red, his breathing rapid.

"Donna and Gwen didn't get out," Jack said straight. "But we're goin' after them tomorrow. I promise I will get them both out."

The Doctor nodded, obviously lacking energy to totally flip. Jack could feel tears prickling at his eyes but he swallowed them back, determined not to cry. He reached up to the covers, drawing them back to uncover the Doctor's belly. It was just one large black bruise, enlarged even further than normal by the swelling. He hid it again, unable to look at it for much longer.

"You're gonna be okay," Jack croaked, speaking more to reassure himself rather than the Doctor. "I know you are. You can fight this." He paused, just taking the moment in before lifting his head up, forcing a smile. "It's gonna be fine."

The Doctor nodded again, then closed his eyes.

* * *

The Doctor became weaker and weaker over the course of the night. Owen stayed on duty for him as Jack continued to pace around Torchwood, trying to do something to occupy himself and failing miserably. He grew paler and paler, weaker and weaker as the hours ticked by, the areas around his eyes dark and bruised. At 11pm it became apparent he was struggling to breath, before he fell unconscious at midnight, and finally stopped breathing altogether at 2am. Owen had intubated.

Jack sat next to the Doctor's bedside, feeling reassured by the Time Lord's hand in his. The time that passed just became a haze of emotion as soon Jack realised somehow it was 6am. He knew he should probably get some rest, but he couldn't bear to leave the Doctor's side. Eventually Owen managed to convince him he could handle things fine if Jack took a break, but once again he was left mooching around Torchwood unable to sleep.

The Torchwood team were assembled in the Conference Room by 9am, Jack giving them a brief of the mission as he tried desperately to forget the man up the stairs fighting for his life.

"From yesterday's attack their security's weak," Jack explained, pacing around the room. "They've lost their supply of humans and we now know that place back to front. This should be a quick in and out thing. Tosh, you're here on communication systems, Ianto, you're with me. Owen's gettin' some needed sleep so we're countin' him out for the moment. Any questions?"

"Yes," came a voice from the doorway and Jack spun around in alarm to find the Doctor staring back at him, hand raised in the air. He was still deathly pale with rapid breathing, his lips tinged blue with heavy bruised areas around his eyes. Sweat lined his face like a second skin, his hand resting on his now huge bump, great pain creating permanent lines in his face. "When we setting off?"

Jack didn't answer straight away. He moved forward and firmly took the Doctor's arm, pulling him out of the room and shutting the door behind him with a resounding slam. He turned back to the Doctor, agitated. "You should be in bed."

"I was bored," the Doctor protested. "So, when are we going?"

 _"You're_ not goin' anywhere," Jack answered simply, looking him up and down to make a point. "You're stayin' here."

"Please," the Doctor begged.

"No way in absolute hell. If these aliens that implanted you haven't come back by the time we're back, Owen's cutting it out."

The Doctor somehow turned even paler than before, his body going rigid. "B… But…" he stammered. "But what if she's not fully grown and…"

"Doctor, you have to stop bonding yourself to it. It's not yours, remember? And you're not coming with us. I want you in the Hub. You're safer here."

The Doctor's eyes disconnected from Jack's, suddenly uncomfortable. "I'll kick myself forever for saying this, Jack, but…" He swallowed. "I feel safer with you."

There was a pause, before Jack sighed heavily. "Man, you really know my turn-ons, don't you. Okay, you can come. But don't tell Owen or he'll kill me ten times over. And you're staying in the SUV. You put a foot outside and I'll cut it out myself, there and then with a penknife. Got it?"

The Doctor nodded.

* * *

Despite the Doctor's protests Jack insisted on carrying him to the SUV, simply because he was afraid that the Doctor might collapse at any moment. He knew he shouldn't even be letting him come and he cursed his inept ability to say 'no' when it needed to be said with the Doctor, the pain inside his heart only getting worse when he had to quickly find a bucket for the Time Lord to throw up blood into. Jack watched him carefully as the SUV drove on, observing how his face screwed up in agony whenever they took a sharp corner or went over a bump. Ianto had offered to go back several times during the journey, but the Doctor had been quick to shake his head, not even speaking since they'd got into the car.

They finally pulled up outside the warehouse with a smooth stop – Ianto mindful of his pained passenger. Jack tried to concentrate on the mission but the Doctor was still sat beside him, his breathing loud and shaking through gritted teeth, fighting an unseen agony. He finished the brief and everyone moved out, as Jack gave the Doctor one last look. The Time Lord trembled and Jack quickly took off his coat and tucked it around him.

"You stay here," Jack said gently, cupping the Doctor's ice-cold cheek as he leant forward to kiss his forehead. The Doctor didn't respond so he climbed back out the car and shut the door gently behind him, turning to Ianto. "Lock it down."

Ianto nodded, turning the key in the lock of the driver's side. There was a faint hiss and a loud clunk, signalling the lock was in place. With shatterproof tinted glass, reinforced bodywork and deadlocks all around the car, no one would be able to get in or out, including the Doctor. Once satisfied Jack turned and wiped all worries of the Doctor from his mind, rolling back his shoulders in attempt of a bit of bravado before leading Ianto through the warehouse doors.

However, what they didn't know was that little click they heard as they closed the door behind them was in fact the entire building going into lockdown as a timed bomb began its countdown.


	9. Laborious

Gwen still had her tracker on her so Jack and Ianto knew where to find her instantly (hoping that Donna was with her or she knew where Donna was), guided by the ever-helpful Tosh from the Hub. It was only a matter of moments before they emerged into the holding cell area, calling for the two women.

"Jack! Ianto!" there were muffled, yet familiar cries from either side of the corridor.

Jack gestured for Ianto to take the left one as he took the right one, still armed with the Doctor's sonic screwdriver he broke his way through to find a gagged and tied up Donna Noble squirming on the floor. He pulled off her gag, grinning before he realised something was hugely wrong.

"Get out, Jack!" she said, eyes wide. "There's a bomb thingy, it's gonna detonate any second!"

"You getting this, Tosh?" Jack asked into his earpiece as he sonicked Donna free.

 _"Yes, scanning area now… Ah."_

"Good or bad?"

 _"Bad… Very, very bad…"_

Jack winced, pulling Donna to her feet taking her arm, leading her out into the corridor. "Okay, I'm a big boy, gimme the worst."

 _"If it blows, it's taking the whole of Cardiff with it, the warehouse you're in has gone into deadlock lockdown and…"_ she paused, as if struggling to say the next sentence. _"120 seconds to detonation."_

Jack swore as Ianto arrived next to him and Donna with Gwen, leading them down the corridor and hastily back to the entrance. "Can you override the lockdown?"

 _"Already doing it,"_ she answered, and Jack could hear the furious tapping of her fingers on the keyboard. _"Estimated time till override… three minutes…"_

Jack swore again. This was not a good day.

Donna took his next words right out of his mouth. "What the hell are we gonna do?"

"The Doctor…" Ianto suddenly said as they reached the warehouse door, knowing the bomb was fixed on the other side.

Jack shook his head almost instantly. "No… He's not strong enough…"

"Jack!" Gwen suddenly burst out, trying desperately not to panic. "He's our only hope!"

Jack closed his eyes for a moment, battling with his emotions. "Okay." He lifted his manipulator to his mouth, connecting to the SUV radio. "Doctor? Can you hear me?" He paused, waited. No answer. "He's probably unconscious…"

Donna wasted no time in yanking his wrist towards her. "Doctor!" she screamed, enough to make the windows of Sydney Opera House shatter. "Answer me, NOW!"

There was a small pause before the weak reply came. _"Donna?"_

Donna's face dropped. "Doctor," she said gently. "You don't sound good."

 _"Dun't feel well,"_ he murmured, slurring his words. _"Dun't wanna goa school today, I…"_ He trailed off into nothing.

Jack's teeth were gritted. "He's fading. Quick." He pulled his arm back from Donna, speaking into it himself with urgency. "Doctor! We have a problem! There's a bomb set, there's a minute till detonation and if it does it'll take out most of Cardiff with it! We're locked inside the warehouse, we can't get out, we need to you defuse it!"

There was a momentary pause. Jack wondered if he'd fallen unconscious again. _"I can't geddout…"_ the voice finally came back.

"Just in front of you where your feet are, lift the carpet. There's a panic button underneath. It'll unlock the doors."

 _"Okay…"_

Silence came.

 _"Fifty seconds, Jack…"_ Tosh's voice came through on the earpiece.

"Doctor?"

 _"'Tis pretty hardta do this with your belly the siza Mount Kilimanjaro, y'know,"_ the Doctor answered curtly, and Jack couldn't help but smile despite the situation. At least he was gaining strength back. Surely that was only a good sign. Though it wouldn't matter if this bomb exploded… _"Okay."_

"Put your earpiece on, Tosh will guide you," Jack said. He heard the SUV door open and he dropped his arm, staring ahead at the locked door in front of them. All they could do was wait.

* * *

Not for the first time, the Doctor felt like he was dragging himself through a sea of broken glass. He was on hands and knees as he crawled onwards in what he hoped was the vague direction of the bomb. Obeying Jack, he fished the earpiece Tosh had given him from his coat pocket, fixing it to his ear.

 _"Doctor,"_ came Tosh's smooth voice. _"You're headed in the right direction, keep going."_

His head felt like it was made of stone as he continued to crawl, fighting his agonising backache. He could hardly see, his muscles were weak, but he knew Jack was relying on him. The whole of Cardiff was relying on him. Just like everyday. Trouble was this time, he wasn't sure if he could do it. Every inch he moved felt like a mile, but he pushed onwards through the unknown, finally hitting a metal wall.

 _"Slightly left, Doctor. Can you see it?"_

He forced open his eyes to meet a blur, but he could distinguish a hand-sized silver box fixed to the warehouse door. He blinked a few times, managing to clear his vision to an acceptable level. He pulled himself over to it, fishing inside his pockets for the sonic… but it wasn't there.

"I've lost the sonic…" he groaned into the earpiece. "Oh Harkness I'm gonna kill you…"

 _"Twenty seconds, Doctor!"_ Tosh said urgently, though she needn't have bothered since the conveniently big red timer on the bomb in front of him made it clear enough. He reached up like he was reaching through tar, hand grasping onto the housing of the explosive. He pulled himself onto his knees, swaying dangerously.

 **00:15** the timer displayed.

Usually the time wouldn't have bothered him, he could usually defuse a bomb blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back. But now he could barely think through the fog in his mind and he was panicking… what was he supposed to do? He couldn't remember…

 **00:12**

Cut the… red wire? Blue? Purple? What did it even matter? He couldn't make out the colours anyway from his double vision! He couldn't even see any wires…

 **00:10**

He tried to prise the cover of the silver box open with his fingernails – it was desperate, but it was the only thing he could think of. And it didn't work. When did he ever expect it would?

 **00:07**

"I need my sonic!" he yelled, hoping someone could hear him.

"I got it, Doc!" a voice replied – on the other side of the wall. The Doctor's eyes widened as he looked down where the wall of the warehouse met the concrete, looking for a hole. Luckily for them, the base of the warehouse door had a gap just large enough for a small object to be pushed through – but would it take the sonic? He pushed his finger under the gap, waving it around.

"Push it through!" he ordered.

 **00:05**

Jack obliged and the Doctor managed to grab the sonic between thumb and forefinger, pulling it.

 **00:04**

He struggled to get back into kneeling position to meet the height of the bomb.

 **00:03**

He finally made it, onto his knees and tried to get his bearings, biting back the overwhelming urge to throw up.

 **00:02**

But he already knew it was far, _far_ too late to defuse the bomb.

 **00:01**

He wrenched it off of the wall, buzzed it with the sonic and used the last of his strength to pull back his arm and throw the tiny troublesome silver box across to the other side of the car park. It bounced on the concrete once, and then it exploded.

The others had heard the explosion and felt the shockwave from inside the sealed warehouse, but assuming they weren't yet dead, the Doctor must have somehow managed to contain the blast. Barely seconds after the explosion, something hit the warehouse wall with a definite 'crack' next to Gwen, startling her as she jumped out the way. The object that had hit the other side of the wall then fell to the floor, and all was silent. It didn't take a genius to work out what had just hit the wall…

"Doctor!" Jack pressed his fingers to his earpiece, eyes wide in alarm. "Doctor!"

 _"His earpiece and tracker are down…"_ Tosh's voice came through, fear tinting her voice. _"I'm not getting any readings…"_

Jack swore loudly, his brow furrowed in agitation. "Hurry up and override this lockdown!" He didn't like the idea of his very sick best friend lying unconscious mere metres away from him in need of help whilst he sat behind a locked door, useless.

 _"Working on it!"_

"Doctor!" he tried again, even though he knew it wasn't going to work. "Doctor, answer me!"

There was suddenly a deep resounding click and Jack practically rammed the door down with his shoulder, quickly looking down to find the Doctor lying unmoving on the floor, an indent in the metal wall of the warehouse the size of the Doctor himself.

"Doctor," Jack dropped to his knees beside him and quickly checking for a pulse. It was there – if a little fast, even for a man with two hearts. Jack turned to see Donna standing motionless behind him, staring at the Doctor.

"Geez, he wasn't lying was he? He looks like he died, went to the afterlife, had a few too many drinks with God and woke up back on Earth…"

Jack turned back to the Doctor, cradling him in his arms. "Doc, wake up." He silently prayed that the Doctor didn't have concussion – he didn't think he could deal with a pregnant _and_ concussed Doctor at the same time. He rested his hand on the Doctor's cheek and turned his head towards him as the Doctor's brow furrowed and he groaned, opening his eyes slightly.

Jack smiled down at him. "Welcome back."

"Ow," the Doctor said, as if it wasn't obvious enough already. He tried to sit up but a sudden sharp sting shot through his right wrist and he gasped in both surprise and pain, collapsing back down into Jack's arms again as he drew in breath through gritted teeth. Jack lowered him to the floor and reached up to take his wrist, examining it in both hands as the Doctor protested weakly for him to stop.

"Okay, no protruding bones. Circulation's good. Ianto, got that first aid kit in the SUV?"

Ianto reached inside his jacket. "One better," he said, and pulled out a first aid kit. "Thought we might need it."

"Doc, which finger am I touchin'?"

"Middle…" the Doctor groaned.

"Now move it for me?"

Slowly the Doctor's middle finger managed to wave feebly about in Jack's hand.

He grinned. "Nice one," he said as Ianto came back. Jack quickly and expertly strapped up the Time Lord's wrist in a foam bandage to temporarily immobilise it until they could get back to Owen. Jack slipped his arms underneath the Doctor and lifted him into the air, mindful of the burning wrist that the Doctor kept firmly against his chest.

"Back to Torchwood," he announced, turning to the others. "Owen's not gonna be happy."

"I can walk…" the Doctor insisted.

"No, you can't," Jack replied almost instantly. "Ianto, run ahead and grab the SUV would you?"

Ianto nodded, sprinting off before Jack could utter another word. The Doctor suddenly groaned in pain, left hand resting on his swollen belly. Jack's eyebrows rose and he looked down at the man in his arms, worried.

"What's wrong?"

"Hurts," the Doctor grunted, grimacing again in pain.

"What kind of pain? Describe it!"

"Jack…" the Doctor murmured, looking up at the Captain with wide, terrified eyes. "I think I'm going into labour."

"Oh you gotta be kidding me," Jack muttered, looking up across the concreted area for an approaching SUV. "Where's Ianto?"

Suddenly there was a flash of bright white light and a whoosh in the unmistakable arrival of someone by transmat. The group staggered backwards in shock with their hands shielding their eyes before they could see a dozen or so figures clearly in front of them. The grey-skin, black-eyes, pinhole-mouths… they were unmistakable. The aliens were back, back to retrieve what was rightfully theirs… the spawn in the Doctor's stomach.


	10. Backbreaking

One of the aliens – apparently the leader – stepped forward and raised a gun at the group.

"Down put him!" it ordered, gesturing at Jack who was still holding the Doctor. Jack remained resolute, but this only caused its supporting aliens to step forward and grab Gwen and Donna as hostages, guns pressed to their heads. Knowing he had no choice Jack placed the Doctor on the ground and backed away, arms in the air. Another alien grabbed him and held a gun to his head but it was more Donna, Gwen and the Doctor he was concerned for now.

"Commence extraction," the leader said, as an alien moved forward and hauled the Doctor onto his feet, grabbing his wrists and forcefully wrenching them behind his back – almost ripping his arms out of his sockets. Jack flinched at their treatment of the Doctor as the Time Lord cried out in agony from the rough treatment of his broken wrist, but the flinch made the aliens around him holding the rest of them press their guns even harder into their captives' heads. Another alien stepped up behind the Doctor and began to rummage around in a bag, drawing out a needle ready to inject the Doctor in preparation for whatever was about to happen. And Jack had a nasty feeling he already knew what.

The Doctor continued to struggle in the grip of his restrainers but to no avail, his weakened body helpless and open. The others watched in shock as another alien silently stepped up to the Doctor, turning to another stood beside it holding the bag in both hands. Like a well-rehearsed routine the advancing alien opened the bag and reached inside, drawing out…

A knife.

Donna watched, alarmed as the Doctor's eyes shot wide open at the sight of the object, absolutely terrified. He began yelling Gallifreyan pleas out of pure instinct, begging in a way Donna had never seen before, his breathing now rapid as he tried desperately to get away. But the alien continued to silently advance, the glint of the sharp silver knife bright in the morning sunlight as it got closer, and closer, and closer. It stopped in front of the screaming Doctor, gesturing to the alien holding the needle. It obliged, stabbing the needle into the Doctor's neck and pressing it down. As the liquid filtered in the Doctor's screams and struggles became weaker and weaker, losing the strength to fight as the sedative took hold. Finally his eyes slipped closed and he went completely limp and silent.

The alien lifted the blade, cut through the Doctor's shirt and pressed the knife to his stomach skin just below his navel, drawing it across like a knife through butter. Blood was already pouring out from the wound and spilling onto the bare concrete below like water from a tap.

Jack was panicking. The guns held to his friends' heads pressed again and he had to physically restrain himself from yelling and running forward, grabbing the unconscious Doctor and beating the hell out of these aliens for what they were doing to the helpless Time Lord.

The alien turned to its assistant and handed the knife back. It finally turned back around to the Doctor, whose face was now deathly pale from the amount of blood he'd lost. Jack knew if this went on for much longer the Doctor would die… but he couldn't do a thing but watch. It tore him inside as he physically struggled to stop himself from moving or shouting, knowing what the consequences would be.

The alien plunged its hand into the hole it had just made, feeling around inside the Doctor for its prize. The alien drew out a blood-drowned hand with something black and spherical contained within, the black jelly-like substance creating some form of protective coating around it.

The surrounding aliens made a collective triumphant noise at the sight, the Doctor's holders releasing him from their grip. He flopped to the floor unmoving.

Another alien stepped up to the one holding the black sphere, opening a silver box. The black sphere was set inside, and the lid closed. The alien who had cut the Doctor open turned to the captive crowd, and bowed.

"Thank you, we do," it said, and then with a beep and a whoosh, they had gone as quickly as they had come.

For a moment Jack, Donna and Gwen could only stare at the Doctor lying face down on the floor, unconscious, then Jack burst into action.

"Shit!" he yelled, tearing over to the Doctor with the two women in tow. Thank God they could keep their heads in a crisis. Jack pulled the Doctor over to lie on his back. Blood was still pouring from the incision, his skin whiter than milk. Jack quickly unbuttoned his own shirt and pulled it off, holding it to the wound – in any other situation he would have relished it (and Donna even more so) but the Doctor's life was once again in danger, and he was the only one that could save him.

"Can I do anything?" Donna was asking anxiously.

Jack nodded, gesturing for her to press his shirt against the Doctor's abdomen as he turned to the first aid box, rummaging around. "Keep the pressure. I hope you don't mind donatin' some blood."

She shook her head. "But won't it poison him or somethin'? What type is he?"

"It doesn't matter," Jack answered, pulling off his white undershirt now. "Experience. He can adapt. He can't have mine… bein' what I am, but he can have yours. When we're in the SUV he'll need yours Gwen, then he can start makin' new blood. For now we just keep him alive." Now half-naked he threw his shirt to Gwen, pointing at the Doctor. "I'm gonna tie off the severed arteries so I need you to mop the blood away so I can see what the hell I'm doin'."

 _Anything to get naked!_ The Doctor's voice from a past adventure came inside his head. He quickly ignored it, trying not breakdown. He found some cotton and proceeded to tie off the profusely bleeding arteries, knowing it was a bodge job but it would have to do until they got back to Owen. Where the hell was Ianto?

"Okay," Jack announced, reaching back into the box and picking out blood transfusion equipment. "You're up, Donna."

She nodded, pulling up her sleeve and closing her eyes as Jack placed the line, and soon her blood was going into the Doctor. Giving him life. Careful of the line, Jack slipped his arms underneath the Time Lord, lifting him into the air. Seconds later the SUV finally pulled up beside them and Gwen flung open the door for them before running to the passenger seat, Jack and Donna climbing in manoeuvring the Doctor between them. They lifted him onto the back seat, settling him against Jack as Donna slammed the car door shut before Ianto stamped on the accelerator.

Then it was a question of mortality. All Jack and Donna could do was watch the tube in Donna's arm, transferring her own lifeblood into the Doctor as all he seemed to do was bleed all over the expensive interior of the SUV, no matter how hard Jack tried to stop it. Tears were prickling at the edge of his eyes again so he quickly forced them back. He wasn't going to give into his emotions. Not now, not when the Doctor needed him to be strong.

When Donna had probably given enough blood, Jack removed the tube and made a new one for Gwen, who accepted it without hesitation. Anything to keep the Doctor alive, his hearts beating, anything to make his deathly pallor colour once again… but he showed no signs of waking up.

They finally arrived back at Torchwood and Owen marched out, looking a little more than annoyed. But his face dropped when he saw the blood on their hands and the looks on their faces, and gestured them inside without a word.

Owen cleaned and stitched him, did the best that he could to keep the Doctor alive. But that was all he had, his best, and he was well aware that might not be enough. When Owen was done a few hours later Jack took the Doctor back to a recovery room and settled him into bed.

Then the waiting game began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are actually two versions of this chapter - I wrote my original intention, Version 1, and then realised it was so dark and gory that it belonged in a scene from Saw and increased the rating to an M, so I wrote another a lot less morbid, Version 2, which is the one you're seeing here. The only difference besides the rating and length between Version 1 and Version 2 is that in Version 1, the Doctor didn't get sedated...


	11. Dysfunctional

Jack re-entered the recovery room shortly after 7am the next morning, feeling, to put it bluntly, like crap. Thanks to falling asleep at his desk he was aching all over with a stiff neck as if he done anything _but_ sleep. The room was silent save for the hearts beeping slowly but steadily, and the sound of Owen's light snores coming from a chair next to the bed. Jack couldn't help but raise a smile at the sight of Owen snoozing in the chair with his snazzy white coat on, clipboard hanging loosely from his grip.

Silently he pulled the clipboard out of Owen's loose fingers, putting it on a side table. The movements startled Owen who jerked back awake, sitting straight up in the chair.

"Mornin'," Jack said, dropping to sit on the bed, looking at the sleeping Doctor. He had broken out in a cold sweat, his lips blue, but he wasn't breathing as fast as he was before.

"What time is it?" Owen asked blearily, rubbing his eyes.

"Seven," Jack replied, pulling the covers a bit more over the Doctor. "What did I miss?"

Owen yawned as he got onto his feet, stretching. "He went into hypovolaemic shock and he's in stupor right now, but he made blood at a _really_ fast rate and he should be out of shock in the next few hours. I think his hearts rate is back to normal but I have nothing to compare it with, there's nothing in the archive…"

"And don't even think about it," Jack said shortly, not even looking at the other man.

There was a pause. "Jack… While I was searching for a file on the Doctor, there was a file on Queen Victoria…"

Jack looked up at Owen sharply, eyes narrowing. "I know. And it's no longer valid."

"But Jack, the whole reason Torchwood was created was to take _him_ down…"

Jack was suddenly on his feet, teeth gritted, fists clenched. "And I told you it's no longer valid! Not here, not in my Torchwood, not _ever_. Is that understood?"

"The other Torchwood bases don't agree with you," Owen continued, seemingly unfazed by the angry man in front of him. "They're still looking for him."

"And they're not gonna find him here," Jack replied firmly. "Queen Victoria got it wrong. He's not a threat. You've seen for yourself who he is and what he stands for, can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me he's a threat to Planet Earth?"

"No…"

"So we protect him. If those people ever got their hands on him you _know_ what would happen."

Owen nodded. "Okay. Sorry."

Jack paused, calming down enough to sit back on the Doctor's bed, reaching up and patting down a tuft of the Time Lord's hair that stuck out at an odd angle, annoying him more than anything else. But as he touched the area of skin behind the Doctor's ear he felt a tiny bump beneath the skin. Frowning, he leant in a bit closer, examining the area for himself. At first glance it looked like a spot – but upon closer examination it was a tiny scar. Jack tried pushing the bump with his finger and it moved beneath the skin. The scar was a small, almost unnoticeable incision.

"Owen," Jack said calmly, beckoning the young doctor over. "Take a look at this."

Owen did so, running his finger over the small bump. "Is that what I think it is?"

"I hope not… Get it out."

* * *

Ten minutes later Owen was pulling out a small ball from behind the Doctor's ear with a pair of tweezers. As Jack quickly dealt with the incision Owen had made, Owen cleaned the blood off of the ball, revealing a shiny silver metal to the world.

"It is, isn't it?" he asked, gazing at it in disdain.

Jack finished tending to the Doctor, straightening up and examining the ball for himself. "It's a Torchwood tracker. What the hell is it doing in him?"

"This is just a wild guess, but tracking maybe?" Owen said with only the slightest sarcasm.

"But we'd know if…"

"Jack?"

Jack whirled around at the sound of the weak voice from the bed, finding the Doctor sat up, his eyes open wide with brown depths looking at Jack in confusion.

"Hey," Jack said softly. "Welcome back."

"This is becoming a habit," the Doctor muttered, brow furrowing as he lifted a hand to his stomach.

To clutch at nothing.

The Time Lord's eyes shot open in alarm, looking down at his flat belly. In silence he pulled back his shirt and pushed down the covers, peeling back the bandages to reveal the deep red scar below his navel with no less than 40 stitches across – it would have been more but for the partial dermal regenerator in Torchwood's possession. He traced a finger across it, a surge of tears building up behind his eyes. The only reminder of what could have been. A daughter. A daughter, he reminded himself, that wasn't even his.

So why did he feel like a part of him was missing?

"She's… She's gone…" the Doctor whispered, his eyes staring intently at his stomach as if not quite able to grasp that there was no bump. "They… They took her."

"Doctor," Jack said gently, taking his hand from his now flat stomach and holding it in his. "We knew this was going to happen. We wanted it to happen, remember? It was killin' you. You had nothin' to do with it."

"TARDIS," the Doctor said suddenly, completely changing the subject as he pulled his hand away from Jack. "Need her…"

"No way," Owen said instantly. "The move would kill you."

"Please," the Doctor whispered in such a heartbreaking tone that Jack almost found himself wanting to squish the Time Lord into a tight hug and tell him everything would be all right. "I need her. I need to… to feel her."

Jack side glanced at Owen, pulling a face. Owen stared at him for a moment, before looking back at the Doctor, whose exhausted features were morphed into an expression of hope and need. Moments passed before Owen sighed dramatically, knowing he'd lost the battle.

"Okay. But we're taking you by stretcher."

"Thank you," the Doctor whispered, and there was real gratitude in his voice. Owen fobbed it off, turning around to walk out of the room.

Jack's eyes dropped to the small silver ball in his hand, before looking up at the Doctor who was staring at his stomach. "Doctor," he began slowly. "Did you get taken by an anti-alien organisation recently? Like another Torchwood base?" But Jack could already tell the Doctor wasn't even listening, far too focused on his abdomen. Jack paused for a moment, considering the situation before dropping the silver ball into his pocket and sitting on the bed, reaching up to the Time Lord's face and cupping his chin. The Doctor's eyes averted to his, shining with tears.

"What do I do now?" the Doctor asked, voice wavering. "Do I look for her? Or do I leave her?"

Jack sighed, dropping his hand from the Doctor's chin before taking his hand, needing to touch him, to feel he was there and alive. The Doctor had saved him so many times, now it was Jack's turn to save him.


	12. Unloved

Donna appeared in the Infirmary doorway mere seconds after Jack and Owen had carried the Doctor in. As they heaved him onto a bed she was already assuming authority, barking instructions and threats left, right and centre. Jack would've told her to be quiet had it not brought a smile to the Doctor's otherwise pain-wracked face.

Owen left as soon as he could but Jack hung around for a while, joining in the meaningless conversation with the Doctor and Donna until the former finally fell asleep from pure mental exhaustion. As Donna made sure he was comfortable Jack's mind once again flitted back to the small silver ball in his pocket. He turned to Donna.

"Donna, has anythin' happened to the Doctor recently? Like, did you get taken by an anti-alien organisation?"

Donna paused, thinking for a moment. "Well, couple of months ago we got locked up somewhere, they came in and took the Doctor. He disappeared for a bit, but he was back in a couple of hours. He said he'd escaped, and we managed to break out."

"Did he seem different?"

Donna frowned. "Err… no. Though when we got back to the TARDIS he did go to bed for a bit, which was a bit weird 'cause he doesn't do that often…"

"Do you remember the name of the organisation? Or someone in it?"

She shook her head. "No… Why?"

Jack paused, before shaking his head with a forced smile. "Nothin', just checkin'." But inside he was burning. Someone had been keeping an eye on the Doctor, tracking his movements wherever he went… and Jack was fairly certain it wasn't of good intention. He turned and left the two alone as he slowly burned inside, exiting the Infirmary before stopping himself just outside the closed door, attempting to calm down. He drew the silver ball out of his pocket and dropped it onto the TARDIS flooring. He stomped his foot onto it repeatedly, crushing the delicate device until he was sure it would never work again.

He picked up the pieces, dropped them in his pocket, and marched out of the TARDIS' double blue doors with a dark look in his eyes. He strolled out into the Torchwood base like a man on a mission, teeth gritted, jaw set.

However, he wasn't counting on finding ten grey-skinned, Hoover-nosed, bulbous black-eyed aliens with pinprick mouths staring right back at him, a weapon pointing directly at his head.

"You got what you wanted now leave us in peace!" he snapped rudely, far too agitated to care about getting shot through the head.

"You hurt child!" the one holding the weapon spoke, obviously angry.

"We never hurt your damn child!" Jack yelled back, fists clenched. He was well aware of the Torchwood crew gathered around the confrontation, watching in anticipation. " _It_ hurt your designated surrogate!"

"Mutation!" the alien continued as one of its group stepped forward towards Jack, holding a still bundle in its arms. "Not of species!"

Jack frowned, calming down slightly. "It isn't of your species?"

"Mutation!" the alien repeated firmly. "Useless!"

"No one is ever useless."

The voice from the TARDIS doorway startled everyone, the aliens included. The Doctor walk slowly out of the doorway with one hand on his stitched-up stomach hidden by bandages, seemingly not caring that he was half naked. He was staggering slightly, but otherwise seemed deadly serious as he moved over to where Jack was standing, Donna in pursuit.

"You!" the alien hissed, eyes scowling. "Mutated child you!"

The Doctor folded his arms, scowling in return. "The only way my body could accept a foreign entity is by making it safe. By 'safe', I mean genetically compatible. In natural defence of the foreign body it would have started messing up the genes from the moment you put it in me until it became something my body could recognise and adapt to. Gallifreyan genes happen to be very dominant, you know."

The alien fumed, turning its weapon from Jack to the Doctor. The Doctor seemed unfazed.

"I can forgive you for what you did to me, but I don't think the Shadow Proclamation is going to like this. We already have a good relationship, me being the last of the Time Lords and all that, and they are not going to like this one bit. Using me as a surrogate to grow your own offspring against my will is a serious offence. Your entire species could pay for your crimes."

"Surrogates we need! No females!" the alien protested, suddenly seeming so feeble and weak compared to before. "Need children! No females!"

"Have you never heard the word 'please'?" Donna demanded suddenly. "You coulda asked him nicely if you could use him as a baby factory!" The Doctor blushed a deep red. "Or at least warned us! He almost died!"

"Look, I understand your problem," the Doctor said to the aliens, his voice growing weaker. "But there are other ways you can do this. You don't need to use other species as surrogates. You can use your own technology to…"

"Enough!" the alien suddenly demanded, desperation quickly turning to anger. "Your fault baby wrong! My daughter!"

"She's mine too," the Doctor said gently, staggering forward with his hand on his stomach, as if believing she was somehow still in there. "And I know that any father will love his daughter unconditionally, and would never call her 'wrong'. She can never be wrong."

"Hold on," Donna said, hand in the air as she interrupted again. "Does that make him the father and you the mother?" She gestured to the alien and the Doctor in turn. The Doctor ignored her.

"Not survive, she won't! Not strong! Too wrong!" It walked brusquely forward to the Doctor, weapon pressed to his bare chest. "Your fault! You hurt baby! You die now!"

Donna simply wasn't going to have this. She stepped forward and plucked the weapon straight out of the alien's grip, tossing it carelessly over to the Torchwood crowd. Gwen caught it, startled. "Right," Donna began, sliding herself in-between the unknown alien and the Doctor, both of whom were now looking very surprised. "I'm not takin' sides here, but he's right…" She jerked her thumb at the Doctor, then pointed at the alien in front of her. "… And you're wrong. I don't know just _who_ you think you are but you can't just go around stickin' babies into innocent people; people who don't even know they're bein' used."

The alien looked a bit miffed at the telling off it was getting. "But…"

"Look, mate," she continued, resting a hand on the alien's shoulder. "We've all got problems! I could stand here all night arguin' with you about this but seriously, wouldn't it be easier if you just climbed back on that spaceship of yours, flew off back to Planet Zog and left us in peace? 'Cause nothing's gonna get solved by us all wavin' our guns about in other people's faces now, is it?"

The alien shook its head.

"We're sorry this didn't work out but there's always a next time, right? Just ask nicely and you might get what you want!"

The alien was nodding, understanding of her words. "We not need force? Just ask?"

Donna smiled proudly. "Yeah! You got the hang of it!"

The alien looked back at the Doctor, who by now was struggling to stay awake. "We sorry," it said. "No mean to be evil."

He smiled briefly, reaching out towards Jack as a warning, who obligingly supported him. "That's quite alright. I'll mend."

"Good bye, friends!" the alien said happily, giving a wave as it stepped into the transmat beam encasing the ten aliens. With a polite whoosh, they'd gone.

Silence took the room.

"… What the hell just happened?" Owen said blankly.

"I think… she just talked them out of it," Gwen said, eyes wide as she stared at Donna.

"If only the Sontarans were as understandin' as them," Donna mused.

"Donna," Jack said shortly, and she turned to see the Doctor since collapsed into his arms. She bustled over, checking his temperature with her hand on his forehead.

"Get him back to bed," she ordered and Jack nodded, turning with the Doctor in his arms to the TARDIS doorway. Suddenly there was another whooshing sound from behind them and Donna turned back to find the grey alien had returned, the bundle in its arms. It silently stepped forward, and held out the bundle.

"Take please," it said as Donna reached out and took the child from its grip. "Me not good father. He is." It pointed at the Doctor in Jack's arms, but another flash of guilt came at the sight of the unconscious Time Lord. "We sorry," it said again, stepping back from Donna before taking a courteous bow to the crowd. It disappeared with another loud whoosh.

No one moved for a moment, just staring at the bundle in Donna's arms, wondering if it was still alive. Silently Donna reached down to the blankets and pulled them back to reveal a very humanoid-looking baby with slightly off-coloured skin, her eyes closed as she lay still. Donna reached up to rest her hand on the child's bare chest, holding her breath. To her complete relief she could feel rhythmic thudding against her palm of a single tiny heart, beating for all it was worth.

She looked up at the crowd, and smiled. Instantly the air of tension in the room dissipated as they let out the breath they'd been holding. Donna readjusted the baby girl in her arms as Owen moved over, checking the child over himself with a doctor's eye. He suddenly frowned halfway through, before his eyes become wide.

"Has the Doctor got an incubator in the TARDIS?" Owen asked abruptly, taking the baby into his arms.

"Probably…" Jack said, already realising what Owen was implying. "Through here."

* * *

As Jack settled the Doctor into a nearby bed Owen was already linking up the baby to lots of different tubes within the nearest incubator. Truth be told he didn't have a clue what some of them did, but Jack had assured him the TARDIS would take care of that. Neither Donna nor Jack seemed to find addressing the ship as another person slightly weird, so Owen took it in his stride too.

As he finished Jack and Donna came up behind him to look at the baby sealed within the incubator. Owen explained the situation to the both of them in clear detail: the feeble heart, the small lungs, the weak immune system, the fragile bones, the low survival odds. He never liked giving false hope where it was not warranted, and this was no exception. He finished his prognosis, nodded to Jack and Donna each in turn, quickly checked the Doctor, and then left the TARDIS.

"She's not gonna survive, right?" Donna asked quietly for confirmation, not even needing to look at Jack as they both stared at the unmoving child in the glass tank, drowned in life support. Jack shook his head, almost imperceptibly.

"Her body's too weak," he muttered. "She won't be alive tomorrow mornin'. She's on borrowed time…"

Silence fell on the both of them once more, and soon only the sounds of the Doctor's breathing filled the Infirmary air.


	13. Acceptance

The Doctor awoke to the sound of crying.

Parental instincts kicked in instantly as he opened his heavy eyes, finding the room in complete darkness but for the square of light from the doorway. He went to sit up, completely forgetting about his most recent injury until it screamed protest at his movement. He gasped in both surprise and pain, collapsing back down onto the bed with a hand on his injured stomach.

The crying continued, quiet yet poignant. Where was it coming from? What was it? Surely it wasn't… A baby?

The almost inhuman wail continued and it was starting to make his ears hurt. He pushed up from the bed again, this time careful of the injuries to his stomach and his wrist. He lifted the covers off and dared to get onto two feet, supporting himself on the side rail of the adjacent bed. He looked up; eyes following the direction of the sound, only to find it was coming from an incubator just a few steps across the room. He moved over, slowly the sight becoming clearer and clearer as he moved closer and closer.

He reached the glass, his eyes wide in shock at the sight before him. It was a baby. A baby girl. And somehow, instantly he knew it was _his_ baby girl.

The baby girl continued to cry, red-faced and wet-cheeked. Her skin was slightly off-coloured and she looked a little sleepy. All he could do was stare at the sight, motionless, somehow forgetting his surroundings as all that seemed to matter was the crying baby lying in front of him.

"Hey, hey, it's okay…" the Doctor said gently, reaching into the glass tank and picking up the thin, light baby girl in his left arm, careful of the tubes as he held her to his bare chest, shushing her. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here. Daddy's here." He paused, frowning. "… Or mummy. I could be Mummy. Actually, don't even know myself. Tell you what, call me Dammy… or Muddy. Nah… Dammy."

The baby quickly quietened, looking up at the Doctor with big brown eyes that eerily reflected his own. He grinned down at her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. She giggled and turned her head, and it was a moment before the Doctor realised what she was trying to do…

"Oh no," he muttered, pulling her away from his chest. "No, no! No latching! You won't find any milk there."

She instantly began to cry again, and the Doctor quickly held her against his chest once more, this time away from his nipples. She continued to cry.

"I'm sorry! I'm still a man, I don't have an all-you-can-eat buffet in my chest. Look, I'll get you some milk, okay?" he said to the little girl, settling her back down into the incubator. "Just be patient!"

The crying continued as he left the Infirmary to head towards the nearest Kitchen, trying to figure out in his head his plan of action. He only had proper milk, not special baby milk. Did that matter? He was pretty sure he wouldn't find a bottle in a hurry. He could have a bottle in the cupboard…

By the time he got back to the Infirmary she was no longer crying, and for some reason his hearts were hammering in his chest in fear. Not even stopping to think rationally he returned to the incubator, setting the milk down on the side. To his great relief he found her sucking contentedly on her fingers, her eyes instantly locking on his face. He beamed down at her, taking her into his unbroken arm once again, his stomach only twinging with pain due to her featherweight.

"You're lucky I found a baby bottle," he said, perching himself on the table top as he reached down to the milk bottle, putting it in her lips as he ignored the pang of pain in his wrist. "Been a while since I had a baby in the TARDIS."

It took a long time, but he enjoyed every moment. He even got into the habit of parenting once more, burping her halfway down the bottle. Eventually when the bottle was almost drained he set it down, and for a moment just rocked her, taking the moment in. When he saw she was beginning to doze he pressed a kiss to her forehead and settled her back into the incubator. But as he began to back away all he could see was her two big brown eyes staring back at him, shining with tears. He couldn't bear to leave her there, so he wheeled the incubator next to his bed as close as he could, settling himself in before taking her out and holding her once again to his chest. Her body seemed so thin and fragile in his grasp, and even though she seemed fine now, he knew she wouldn't need so much life support if there was nothing wrong with her.

After a few moments her eyes slipped closed and he sighed contentedly, closing his eyes to join her.

* * *

Jack entered the TARDIS Infirmary to find the Infirmary completely deserted. The bed the Doctor had been occupying was messy and unmade, a stack of medicines and bandages littering the covers. Jack moved forward to allow Donna into the room behind him, and they exchanged a look.

"Doctor?" Donna called.

"Shush!" Jack said quickly. "You'll wake the…" he trailed off pathetically as his eyes connected with the incubator… or rather, the now _empty_ incubator. Instantly he launched into action, pushing Donna aside as he ran out of the room and back to the TARDIS console. She was whining quietly, as if in pain. He rested a hand on the surface and whispered gently, "is the Doctor on board, TARDIS?"

She shuddered in response, and something blipped onto the console monitor. It was a scan for lifeforms on the timeship, and there were currently only two present. Him, and Donna.

Jack sighed. "Can you tell me where he went?"

She shuddered again, and a map of Cardiff appeared on the monitor with a flashing blue light to indicate the Time Lord's whereabouts.

"Okay, he's not far," he announced to the waiting Donna. "He's just by the sea wall. Probably needed some fresh air."

"With the baby?" Donna pointed out. Jack didn't answer her, already bounding out of the TARDIS door into the Hub and through the entrance. He jogged over to where the blue dot had been present on the other side of the bay, glad to find the fully dressed Doctor sitting on the sea wall with the baby in his arms.

He smiled at Jack as he approached, but his skin was still ashen. "Lovely morning, isn't it?"

Jack took a seat next to him, looking out over the bay. "You shouldn't take her out."

"She's fine, heart and blood pressure both normal, breathing regular," the Doctor countered, holding her out to make a point. "Bit of motherly contact, that's all she needed. She was crying like a fountain this morning. Had more energy than I did."

"I shouldn't have left you on your own."

"Don't be stupid, Jack. You can't watch me 24/7," the Doctor replied truthfully.

"But you could've done serious damage to yourself… There'd have been no one to help you…"

"Oh Captain," the Doctor said with a sigh, resting his right hand on Jack's shoulder. "You mope too much. I'll be fine in a couple of days, if that. Don't kick yourself. You've looked after me this past week the best you possibly could and I'm grateful. You're probably getting sick of the sight of me. Thank you."

Jack's eyes connected with the Doctor's, who gave him a small, reassuring grin. Jack couldn't help but smile in return.

"So," Jack began, his flirty smile restoring itself flawlessly. "I think the no-shirt look really works on you. Why don't you try the no-pants look?"

The Doctor sighed despairingly as Jack looked down at the bundle, reaching out and stroking the baby's podgy cheek. She reached out an arm to catch the finger of his hand, giggling and squeaking.

"She kinda look likes you," Jack observed.

"I'm small and podgy?"

"Big adorable brown eyes that seem to have mastered the art of puppy looks," Jack supplied, smiling. "How much longer you gonna stay out here?"

The Doctor looked back down at the girl in his arms, kissing her on the forehead. "Give me a bit."

Jack nodded, getting to his feet. "I'll see you inside, then."

"Not so fast, Harkness."

The deep voice startled both the Doctor and Jack, their heads whipping up to meet the gaze of a tall, handsome blond man, a gun primed in his arms. Behind him stood four more people, two women and two men, all with their guns aimed at the two, smirks on their faces.

"Torchwood Two," Jack spat, getting onto his feet and placing himself between the Doctor and the newcomers. He addressed the blond-haired man, "what the hell are you doin' here, Moore?"

Jake Moore's eyes flickered to the Doctor now on his feet behind Jack, and smirked. "You know what we want, Harkness. The Doctor. Give him to us, or you and your little bunch of Torchwood friends will pay for crimes against the crown… Under penalty of execution. I do love a good firing squad."


	14. Broken

Donna knew something was wrong the moment she arrived on the Plass. It was still early so people were scarce, expect for a small group of seven people near the sea wall. She made to walk forwards but something caught her eye – a tall blond man was holding a gun to two other figures – one with black hair, the other brown-haired with something in their arms. It took a moment to process, but then she froze in her tracks. One of the blond-haired man's accomplices suddenly looked over her shoulder, and Donna dived behind the closest pillar. She waited a few seconds and then peeked around the side – the woman was no longer looking.

She had to act quickly. She reached into her pocket and took hold of the earpiece Tosh had given her, slipping it onto her ear.

"Hello?" she whispered. "Anyone there?"

 _"Donna?"_ Tosh's voice replied, sounding a little surprised.

"Jack and the Doctor are in trouble," she said, feeling a little bit like James Bond. "I need backup."

 _"What kind of trouble?"_

"Some people have their guns wavin' about in their faces."

 _"Okay."_ Tosh seemed to take it in her stride. _"We'll be right out."_

Feeling like a ninja Donna Noble slid from pillar to pillar, advancing closer and closer towards the group. She stopped by a nearby pillar, hawk eyes watching the confrontation.

"You'll have to get past me first," Jack spat, backing up a little bit and visually protecting the Doctor with his body. "You won't take him alive."

"Oh, but we don't need him alive," Moore answered, his smile making him look like the Grinch. "Since you removed our tracker, Harkness, our cover has been blown. Either we take him back to our Torchwood to experiment or we shoot him right now for the good of the British Empire."

"And you would be…?" the Doctor wondered.

Moore straightened up, looking proud. "We're Torchwood Two, based in Glasgow," he answered in an obviously American accent. "Members include, me, Jake, as the boss. Rowan is our medic," Moore gestured to a stout-looking black-haired man looking as though he'd rather be anywhere else but there. "Here's Wendy." He gestured to a blonde woman on his left that greeted them in a voice with a Scottish accent. "Riko's our techie…" He gestured at a small Japanese woman standing behind him who smiled shyly at them. "… And finally Ian, he makes the coffee and shoots the bad guys, what more could you want?"

"I'm getting a sense of déjà vu…" the Doctor murmured, staring at the crowd of people in front of him.

Moore ignored him. "We've got no time for this." He inclined with a nod of his head towards Jack. "Get him out the way."

Obediently two members of Torchwood two stepped forward without warning, grabbing Jack and beating him to the ground. The other two assailed the Doctor, wrenching the baby out of his grasp and yanking him arms behind his back, leaving him helpless as suddenly his baby girl was in the arms of the man with the gun, crying and flailing around.

"Aww, sweet," Moore said, that evil smile never ceasing. "An alien baby. Imagine the experiments we could do on this…"

"Get off of her!" Jack demanded as he struggled in the grip of his captors, almost managing to break free but they held him fast.

"Let her go!" the Doctor growled.

Moore raised an eyebrow, holding up the crying infant in both arms, as if studying her. He finally moved over to the Doctor, ordering his accomplices to let him go. They threw him to the ground, and Jack was vaguely reminded of the time with the Master in the Valiant as the Doctor hit the concrete with a definite thud. He grunted in pain before pushing himself with one hand onto his knees, clearing his expression of pain before forcing his head up to look at Moore, his teeth gritted.

"If you're so desperate to have me, I surrender." To reinforce his point he put his hands behind his neck, staring at the ground. "But you let the baby go without so much as a _scratch_ on her."

Moore's eyes were now fixed on the Doctor, scrutinising. Still with the child in his grip he knelt down in front of the Time Lord, and grabbed his broken wrist roughly. The Doctor cried out in agony, Jack visibly flinching at his friend's noise of discomfort. This was the caesarean all over again…

"Don't touch him!" Jack yelled, struggling to get free, and damn near almost succeeding. Moore ignored him, dropping the hands and instead reaching down to the Doctor's shirt and pulling it out, revealing the wrap of bandages around his stomach.

"Interesting…" Moore said, peeling back the bandages to reveal the incision cut across the Time Lord's abdomen. "You gave birth to it?"

"She's not an _it_ , she's a _she,"_ the Doctor spat, eyes narrowing.

Moore's anger flared into action as he drew his hand away from the Doctor and raised it in the air above the Time Lord "Don't correct me, alien!" he yelled, and brought the hand down onto the Doctor, slapping him around the face with a resounding crack. "Speak when you are spoken to!"

The Doctor raised his head to meet Moore's gaze without a flicker of fear, and to everyone's complete and utter surprise… he broadened a smile.

"You think that hurt? Try getting slapped by Jackie Tyler."

"Quiet, alien!" Moore screamed, but he was already losing his authority. Jack bristled, knowing it was only a matter of time before Moore caused potentially serious damage to the Doctor.

"Of course, being 900 years old you'd think I'd have been slapped at least once before my 900th birthday, but no," the Doctor continued, eyes still fixed to Moore with a grin on his face. "That was the first time ever. I've been tortured, beaten, knocked unconscious several times with heavy objects, poisoned, irradiated with deadly radiation, had all my blood sucked out through a _straw_ no less…"

"Quiet!" Moore repeated, but it had little effect.

"… Been shot, forced regeneration, fell from several great heights, tortured some more, biological manipulation, mind probe, electrocuted, hosted by a Sun, gassed, drugged…"

"BE QUIET!" Moore screamed, but Jack was struggling not to laugh.

"… Punched, kicked, hypo and hyperthermic both in the same day, hand cut off, contusions, lacerations, ripped apart and put back together, crashed into the ground at high speed with a bird named Squawk, stabbed in the left heart through a voodoo doll…"

"I'm warning you!"

"… Eaten, possessed, impregnated with abdominal injuries, shock from blood loss, broken wrist… oh, and I walked into a pole," he finally stopped to take a breath, tilting his head and contemplating what he'd just said for a moment. "… Y'know, since then I've completely lost feeling in the end of my nose. Where was I? Oh yes. But NEVER have I been slapped by someone's mother. Seriously, it's like buses. You wait 900 years for one slap then four come along at once! Jackie, Francine, and then Donna, twice. Maybe I should start wearing cheek guards. Is there such a thing? Or is it just a helmet?"

"Are you quite finished?"

"Well," the Doctor began in a high-pitched voice. "I'm sure there's a few more that could be added to that which I've forgotten." He gazed at Moore for a moment, as if taking him in for the first time. "… Though am I right in thinking that I may be adding a broken nose to that list in a moment?"

"Or a bullet-to-the-head!" Moore gruffed, raising his firearm back to the Doctor's skull.

"Aww," the Doctor moaned. "I've already been shot. Can you be a bit more original? Stabbing, maybe? I haven't been stabbed… I think."

"Hold this," Moore grunted, handing off the baby to the person behind him as he knelt down, drawing a silencer out of his pocket and fixing it to his gun as he maintained his gaze with the Doctor. "Getting shot in the stomach is a slow and painful way to die, or so I've heard."

"Yes, I've heard that too," the Doctor said brightly.

"Would you care to find out?"

"Not really, if I'm honest," the Doctor admitted with an apologetic shrug, before a thoughtful look crossed his face. "By the way, what was your name? Roger?" he asked, looking hopeful.

Moore seemed confused. "No…"

The Doctor's hopeful expression fell. "Shame…" He shook his head with a sigh. "Best Bond ever. Though they do say it's the one you grow up with, don't they?" The Doctor moved his gaze from Moore to look at a point over his shoulder, gesturing with his head. "By the way, you might want to look behind you."

"Stop right there, Moore," came a sudden deep voice from behind Moore, and the blond man swivelled around to find a sleek black gun pointed at his head by a man with short brown hair dressed in a smart suit and tie.

"Good job, Ianto!" Jack praised and wrenched himself out of the Torchwood Two members' grip as Ianto let a small smile creep onto his face. It was then Moore realised that the person he'd given the baby to was, in fact, a red-haired woman he'd never seen before in his life, who was now beaming at him happily.

"Thanks for the baby," she said, then moved over to the Doctor. Moore bridled with anger, vein throbbing on his forehead as he regarded the overturned situation.

Then it all happened so fast.

Moore suddenly exploded into action, spinning around and swinging the toe of his heavy boot into the Doctor's stomach repeatedly until Jack managed to restrain him. Moore fought Jack off and pointed his gun at the Doctor as his finger tightened on the trigger. There was a desperate cry of warning as Jack launched forward and knocked the gun aside, and Moore's finger tightened. The bullet fired.

And then the baby abruptly stopped crying.

Donna looked down at the infant in her arms in shock, only to find a blossom of deep red blood spreading over the blankets from where the bullet had entered the small, fragile body.


	15. Recovery

Before Donna had had time to comprehend what had happened, the two doctors Rowan and Owen had run forward and taken the baby out of her arms and run back to the Hub. The Doctor had lain on the ground staring at where his baby girl had been in Donna's arms, as if in a trance. Blood had been seeping from his wound all over the floor, reopened by the beating he had taken. Silently Donna had moved forward and knelt down next to him, offering to help him up. He had gazed at her hand for a moment, his face an unreadable blank before a single tear had slipped down his cheek, then several others quickly joined it.

Jack had finished handcuffing Moore, ordering Ianto and Gwen to take him down to one of the Torchwood cells to cool off. Jack didn't know what he was going to do with him, but he was afraid if he looked at him for much longer he would end up doing something he'd regret.

He had moved over to the Doctor and Donna, the former lying trembling in Donna's arms with tears pouring down his face. Jack had looked at Donna, his eyes snapping to her arm.

"You're bleedin'," he had said and she had checked her arm, finding a small cut across her shoulder. The bullet, she realised, her eyes widening in shock. The bullet had gone straight through the infant and across Donna's arm. A flash of mortality had hit her before reality had set in. The Doctor's daughter had been shot. Again.

Jack had hauled the weeping Doctor to his feet, but words were not exchanged. Jack had half guided half dragged the Time Lord back to the Hub's medical room, patching him up in silence.

* * *

That had been three hours ago. Since then the Doctor had been moved back to the TARDIS Infirmary, where his baby girl lay broken and near death. It was miracle she had managed to survive at all – Rowan and Owen were truly geniuses of their field. But Donna couldn't help but think that it wasn't enough. The girl was on Death's Door, knocking loudly, waiting for an answer.

Four hours after it had happened, Donna entered the TARDIS Infirmary. She couldn't tell whether the Doctor was asleep or not, sitting next to the incubator staring at the body inside. He was utterly still and silent, seemingly in the same position as he had been an hour before with the duvet wrapped around his shoulders, his head resting on his arms.

"Amy," the Doctor suddenly said, breaking the silence. "What d'you think?"

Donna moved closer. He was visibly trembling. She looked to the baby in the incubator, utterly drowned by bandages, tubes and wires, her small body so fragile and still.

"Yeah, she looks like an Amy," Donna said, pulling up a seat next to him.

"I'm gonna have to clear out the Nursery. Been using it as storage," he said, lifting his head off of his arms. "I'll need to go shopping. Get lots of baby food, milk…" his voice was slowly but surely raising in speed and pitch, on the verge of breaking completely. "I'll need a milk warmer and a highchair and a pram and… and…" He gasped a sob of sorrow, a tear rolling down his face. "… And a potty and…" He broke off, his head falling onto his folded arms as his shoulders shook in silent tears.

Donna watched him, not really knowing what to do. She tentatively reached out and rested a hand on his back in comfort. He continued to sob heaving great sobs, all the time the heart monitor for his little baby girl knelling her heartbeat.

* * *

Strawberry air freshener was pungent in efforts to cover the stink of Weevils in the Torchwood Three Holding Cells where Jack made his port of call the next morning. He didn't know what he was going to do to Torchwood Two's leader, but he was struggling to keep business from personal. He would like nothing more than to give Moore what he deserved – an eye, for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a bullet for a bullet – but that was not the Doctor's way, so Jack would not resign himself to that either. He would warn Moore, maybe retcon if he had to, and make sure they got back to Glasgow.

Jack strode down the aisle of cells purposefully, counting the weevils in them as he always did. He arrived at the sixth cell along to find the blond-haired Moore sitting on the cell bed with his head in his hands, staring at the floor.

"Moore," Jack said calmly, and the man in the cell jerked his head up to stare at Jack, eyes narrowed.

"Harkness," he spat, pushing onto his feet and walking up to the cell wall with his teeth gritted. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Article Three," Jack said, straightening up and folding his arms. "If I remember right, goes a little somethin' like this: 'No Torchwood base, staff or its associates may intervene in the affairs of another Torchwood base, staff or associates without expressed desire and/or permission from all staff of all bases involved.'"

Moore stared at him for a moment. "Article One…"

"Has been made null and void!"

Moore ignored him. "Article One. 'The Torchwood Institute and all members and associates are duty bound by royalty to find and kill the alien known as Sir Doctor of TARDIS and his accomplice, Dame Rose of the Powell Estate, should they set foot on British soil.' I was breaking Article One just by letting him go with a tracker – he was on British soil, he should've been killed."

"Okay, so we could stand here quoting Articles all night," Jack concluded. "But let's face it, Article 67 in its ties of religion states: 'No leader of a Torchwood base should be homosexual' but I think we've both pretty much broken that one a few times over between us."

Moore sighed, before spreading a winning smile. "Okay, fine. So kill me. Execute me."

Jack's eyes darkened considerably, leaning forward towards the glass. "You're right, I should shoot you right now…"

Moore suddenly laughed hysterically, making Jack step back in surprise. "I shot an alien, Jack! You've shot aliens! I just shot one that happened to be your friend!"

"Take your staff and leave," Jack said coolly, ignoring him. "The Doctor is the responsibility of Torchwood Three under Article 254. 'Specific Torchwood Bases are permitted to take sole responsibility for encountered life-forms.' The Doctor's a prisoner of Torchwood Three, and under Article Three you can't intervene." He walked over to the cell door and buzzed it open, stepping back to allow Moore out. "If in any way at all you try to pull somethin'…" he trailed off, not really needing to finish the sentence as his eyes locked with Moore's.

Moore scowled, knowing he was defeated as he slid out the door and pushed past Jack back into the Hub. Jack sighed, rolling back his shoulders to loosen up before following him.

"Boo!"

Jack started as suddenly the Doctor appeared behind him, his arms folded.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed in surprise, "where'd you come from?"

"Over there," the Doctor replied with a smile, inclining his head to the right. "Invisibility cloak."

Jack didn't know if he was joking or not. "Doc, as much as I like you wanderin' around half-dressed, I think you should be in bed."

"I needed to get out," the Doctor countered.

Jack paused, almost dreading what he was about to ask. "How is she?"

To Jack's relief, the Doctor spread his smile. "She's stable. About three weeks and she can probably come off the ventilator."

Jack nodded, impressed. "She heals fast. Got Daddy's gene!" He frowned. "… Or should that be Mummy…"

The Doctor waved it off with a hand. "Oh trust me, been through that." He panned Jack up and down for a moment, regarding him. "Prisoner, right?"

"Huh?"

"I'm your prisoner."

Jack suddenly realised what he meant. "Oh. Well, I s'pose that means I've gotta break out the pink furry handcuffs in the drawer…" The Doctor looked mildly terrified at the prospect, and Jack burst out laughing. "You're not really. Technicalities. Article 349."

The Doctor thought about this for a moment. "349? 'Any staff member to have been found slaughtered and replaced by a shape-changing life-form shall forfeit all pension rights'?"

Jack blinked. "Oh no, 348! 'Life-forms with signs of self-awareness and intelligence must not remain on a Torchwood Institute base for longer than ten days in the interest of homeland security.' You're free to leave on Thursday."

The Doctor grinned. "You know, you're cleverer than you look."

"I learnt from the best," Jack replied, returning the grin as he put his arm around the Doctor's shoulders, leading him back out into the Hub. "So, what's her name?"

"Amy."

"Pretty name," Jack complemented. "I dated a girl named Amy. Well, I say dated, more a one night stand. She had this weird habit of stickin' her tongue…"

"Jack! Be quiet!" The Doctor made a mental note to tell his daughter not to go near any tall, dark-haired Captains when she grew up.

Jack grinned, and shrugged. "Sorry!"

They fell silent as Moore suddenly appeared in front of them, his team in tow. He walked up to Jack and glared at him for a moment, before moving his eyes to look at the Doctor, whose face remained completely impassive. With a final huff, Moore span on his heel and strutted out of Torchwood Three, followed by his silent team. The Doctor suddenly stepped forward and took Rowan's wrist to grab his attention, who turned in surprise.

"Thank you for saving her," the Doctor said simply.

Rowan quickly checked his team were out of earshot. "I just want you to know, I never agreed to all this anyway," Rowan said lowly in a light Edinburgh accent. "Look after her. She's beautiful."

"I will."

"Rowan!" Moore yelled from the hub door and Rowan quickly turned, jogging over to him. With a whirr of machinery and a loud thud, the Hub door closed.


	16. Blessing

When the Doctor entered the TARDIS Infirmary he found Donna sitting next to the incubator as he had been before, staring at the comatose baby within. Amy was swathed in bandages around her chest, a tube bigger than her arm giving her air into tiny lungs. The Doctor pulled on a shirt before taking a seat next to Donna, and surveying her face carefully.

"You alright?" he asked. She nodded silently. Instantly the Doctor knew something was hugely wrong. He nudged her and she looked up, her eyes shining with… were they tears?

"This is all my fault, right?" Donna asked, seemingly looking for some kind of confirmation.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "What is?"

"If I'd… She wouldn't… I should've…" Her eyes moved to the girl in the incubator, and the Doctor understood what this was about.

"Don't be ridiculous," the Doctor said, almost rudely. "Nothing could have changed what happened. Besides, she's fine. She just needs a bit of rest. In a couple of months she'll be as right as a trivet."

He watched as she unconsciously put her hand on her left arm; beneath the shirt a reel of bandages hiding the area the bullet had skimmed her. He reached up and rested his hand on hers, and she looked back up at him.

"It's okay," he said gently. "Really. Even if somehow you managed to clock that the bullet was going to come your way there wouldn't have been time to react."

"Maybe," Donna murmured. "I should've been more careful…"

"Donna…"

"I should've got there quicker… Maybe if I'd moved over to you or held her a bit higher she'd have been fine! Or maybe if my arms were round her better I could have protected her. Maybe if I'd kicked the git with the gun as I walked past, I dunno, somethin'! She's just lyin' there like a scrap of nothin', and I can't do anythin'. I feel so useless."

Finally the Doctor realised what she was doing. She had bonded with his little baby just as he had. She was feeling very maternal, and he could understand it. She was his protector, his guide and his mentor - her own choice to put herself there. She had literally volunteered even though he had had no idea that there was such a post on offer.  
"Donna," he said softly. "Do you want to hold her?"

She tore her gaze from him and looked at the baby in the incubator. "But if I touch her, won't she break?"

The Doctor smiled gently at her, leaning forward and taking the small body out of the incubator, careful not to dislodge any of the tubes. He pressed a kiss to his baby girl's forehead before offering her out to Donna, who took her into her arms as though she were made of glass.

For a moment Donna just held her, staring at her. She reached up a hand to stroke Amy's cheek, smiling down at the sleeping child.

"I hope you're not plannin' to leave her behind," Donna said suddenly, her smile erased as she looked up at the Doctor with sincerity.

"No!" he said instantly, defensive. "She stays in the TARDIS. For as long as she can stand it!" he added with a grin, before a frown creased his forehead. "Though, you do realise, this means people will think we're a couple even more than before?"

Donna looked back down at Amy. "I don't mind people thinking she's mine," she said after a moment's thought. "But if anyone says we're a couple they'd _better_ have a bulletproof vest on!"

The Doctor grinned as the old Donna returned, taking Amy back and settling her inside the incubator. Donna got onto her feet. For a while they both just stared at the rise and fall of the infant's chest, breathing in and out contentedly despite her near-death experience. She had been so lucky – they had been so lucky.

"Will she have a scar?" Donna asked, gazing at the wrap of bandages around her chest.

The Doctor nodded. "Permanent, I'm afraid. Until she regen…." he trailed off, biting his lip as his eyes flickered over the body before him.

Donna's gazed at him. "What is it?" she asked, sensing his panic.

He quickly shook his head. "Nothing, sorry."

* * *

"Well, see you again soon guys!" Captain Jack Harkness was saying as Donna and the Doctor made their farewells to the Torchwood crew outside the TARDIS doors.

The Doctor bristled. "I hope not," he said jokingly, though he rested a palm on his stomach where the scar still lingered in allusion to the memory. Jack watched him as Donna embraced Gwen beside him, the Doctor's face with a smile but his eyes heavy with both exhaustion and worry. Jack made a step forward, taking the Doctor's arm and pulling him away from the others. The Time Lord looked at him quizzically.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked, and as he expected, the Doctor quickly shook his head and pulled away.

"Nothing, I'm fine," he replied.

Jack rolled his eyes and took his arm again, resisting the urge to shake him roughly by the shoulders. "No, seriously. Tell me what's wrong, or I may have to kiss you."

The Doctor sighed, his smile waning within moments. "I don't know if she can regenerate. She might not have enough Gallifreyan genes in her to muster it…" The Doctor's voice was breaking, "… what if she dies, Jack? What if she then withers and dies like every other human…"

Jack nodded, pausing to consider this. A parent should not outlive their child in the natural aging process. He dropped this from his mind, giving a smile to the man standing opposite him. "Well, she's only as human as whatever you gave her. You don't know the agin' process of that species that used you as a surrogate, do you? They could live for even longer than the Gallifreyans." He gazed firmly into the Doctor's eyes. "Even if you won't admit it, I know you're scared, and you shouldn't be. I don't know much about her, but what I do know is the beautiful baby girl lyin' in the infirmary has you, Donna, the TARDIS, and a lot of allies on her side – me included. So enjoy the moment. You deserve it. You said it yourself on the Valiant, Doc. Maybe that's what you need – someone to care for. And now you've got it."

The Doctor nodded only once, but the smile on his face said it all. For once he was the one to wrap his arms around Jack, engaging him into a manly hug.

"Thanks, Jack," he muttered.

"S'alright," he said. "I just want you to bring her back so I can see her every now and then!"

"I will," the Doctor replied as they pulled away again, the Doctor bounding back to Donna and the TARDIS doors.

"I'll see you again soon," Jack said, before digging into his pocket and holding up his phone. "I got your number now! Sorry for any drunken texts you get at five in the mornin'!"

The Doctor's old grin was reinstated, sketching a half wave to the Torchwood Three team before slipping in through the TARDIS doors behind Donna. All five members of Torchwood Three watched in fascination as there was a resounding thud and with a loud churning sound, the blue wooden box began to disappear from right in front of them with the white light atop flashing brightly. It finally disappeared altogether.

Jack sighed loudly, before spinning around and clapping his hands together. "Right! Back to work!" he announced, his team scattering in all directions as normal business resumed.

Torchwood Two would be back, Jack knew. Moore and his team would not stop now. All Jack could do was to divert their attentions slightly, help take a bit of the heat off of the Doctor. Because that's what friends are for.

He sat down at his desk for the first time since the Doctor had arrived, his eyes connecting with the two foot high stack of paper. He sighed again. Yup, business as usual.

He took the top sheet, and began to write.

 **The End**


End file.
